Current Projects

River Options Considered

Gregg M. Miliote, Herald News Staff Reporter, November 24, 2002

Goody, Clancy & Associates held an eight-hour visioning workshop Saturday to create an urban river vision for the Quequechan River and surrounding areas. The workshop, held at the Advanced Technology & Manufacturing Center, invited residents from the area to discuss their own ideas for future uses of the riverfront area. Those in attendance included teachers, members of the park board, officials from the Greater Fall River Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. and members of environmental group Green Futures.

Residents who attended the workshop were broken into three separate groups to discuss connections to the river, river images, economic development and river uses. Goody, Clancy & Associates' employees led the three discussion groups.
The workshop alone won't determine the future of the river, but it could lead to a feasibility study of the various options discussed.

Many residents were interested in coming up with a way to make the Quequechan River's waterfall visible again. It is now blocked from public view under Interstate 195.

Members of the "connections" group discussed bringing back the falls to generate more tourism for the city. Other ideas included having tour boats on the river, connecting the river throughout the city, setting up bike paths along the water and beautifying the views from surrounding buildings. "We need to get people aware of the river, because then people will realize this is an enormous community asset," said resident Jim Smith.

The workshop was held because Secretary of Environmental Affairs Robert Durand recently selected Fall River as one of seven communities to take part in a new initiative to revitalize the downtown area by using natural resources. "Through the Urban River Visions program, we hope to help communities make their rivers a catalyst for business development, attractive recreation areas for residents to enjoy and a focal point for tourism," Durand wrote in a recent press release. The outcome of the workshop will help Goody, Clancy & Associates create a rendering of the ideas expressed at the meeting.

"We need a real engineering study to find out how all these ideas will work out to proceed," said project director David Spillane.

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