Feds infuse Fall River's effort to revitalize Pleasant Street with over $1.6 million

FALL RIVER — The administration’s initiative to revitalize Pleasant Street in the Flint just received a more than $1.66 million infusion of funding thanks to an appropriation by the Massachusetts federal delegation.

The award that will fund streetscape projects on Pleasant Street, once known as the city’s second downtown back in the day, was announced Friday by the delegation as part of a $175 million in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) in the first six Fiscal Year 2024 spending bills for projects across the state.   

“That money is a tremendous opportunity for the city,” said Coogan. “We’ve got a lot of work to do on streetscapes on Pleasant Street and we may have to take some property down. Once we make it look better, we can get some more private investment down there.”

Once the center of neighborhood and commercial activity, the Flint area has struggled in recent years to keep stores and apartments occupied to stem the tide of blight. 

Coogan’s initiative started around the summer of 2021 when the city received a $120,000 state grant to help fund the creation of an urban renewal plan and a neighborhood revitalization plan for the Pleasant Street area.

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Improvements are already underway

In a partnership with the Fall River Redevelopment Authority and funding from the city’s Community Development Agency projects have already started and there has been at least one community meeting where residents were asked to share their ideas about Pleasant Street revitalization.

“People are looking for a more vibrant Pleasant Street,” said CDA Executive Director Michael Dion. “One that has less vacancies, one that has less turn-over of renters.”

Dion’s agency has earmarked $800,000 of its American Rescue Plan Act money for a storefront improvement program.

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He said that four businesses are in different stages of applying for the money, including White Rose Bakery, Avo's Feast, Gilberts Jewelers and the city is working with the owner of the large building at 1709 Pleasant Street across from the former Nite Owl Diner near Eastern Avenue.

“He would like to rent out those spaces and a new storefront would go a long way in renting out those spaces,” said Dion.

In speaking with Flint residents, Dion said there is a need for affordable housing. It’s an issue that has plagued communities around the country.

“We’re staying true to housing projects that we’ve done in other areas of the city, by funding projects with a mix of affordable housing and market rate housing,” said Dion.

He said he’s working with a property owner on a project located on Pleasant Street that will produce 13 units, with five or six of those units to be affordable housing.

Revitalization plan

“So, we have a draft of a roadmap for neighborhood revitalization which has lots of goals and objectives in it,” said RDA Executive Director Sarah Page. “And we also have a draft of the urban renewal plan for the Flint.”

Page said both drafts are about to be submitted for approval from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, and a review from the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office.

“They will be reviewing it from an environmental perspective,” said Page.

The administration and RDA held its community meeting in November to get input and to update the community, including plans to address the extreme flooding at Stafford Square that has plagued the city and Flint neighborhood.

Paul Ferland, Fall River’s Department of Community Utilities administrator, has $2 million to begin the project, said Page, adding Paul’s department is working on it and is making good progress.

In addition to the public meeting, Page said they put together a survey “and really got it into the neighborhood on Facebook.”

“And we got 500 responses, and with some really great narrative responses that we want to follow up on,” said Page.

Some of the feedback and concerns included road design on Quequechan Street that is difficult for drivers to maneuver onto Pleasant Street.

She said other concerns were lighting and the need for more crosswalks along Pleasant Street.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: The city just recieved $1.66 million for Pleasant Street revitalization