Representative Fresolo Secures $1,600,000 For Blackstone Gateway Visitors Center In FY 07 Supplemental Budget

Boston, MA – Representative John P. Fresolo (D-Worcester) secured $1,600,000 to be used toward the construction of the Gateway Visitors Center in the Legislature’s Supplemental Budget that was signed into law by Governor Mitt Romney.  The funding is the Commonwealth’s contribution toward the project, which will alleviate the need for the City of Worcester to supply the funding. 

“I am very pleased to announce that I was able to secure this funding in the supplemental budget.  For so long, Worcester has been overlooked as a hub of local culture and history,” stated Rep. Fresolo.  “With this funding, the City will have a state of the art facility that will make the Commonwealth proud and reflect Worcester’s great heritage.”

The visitors center, located at the old Rome Products building, will house the Worcester History Museum, an information center for local cultural and tourist information and local history of the industrial revolution.

Worcester City Manager Michael V. O’Brien stated, “The Visitor Center is an important project for the city as it sits at the gateway into the city from the south and Route 146. It will not only provide valuable information for visitors about the city and its assets, but would also act as a catalyst for neighborhood revitalization in Quinsigamond Village.”

The Visitors Center will not only provide cultural and historical information, but also restaurants and meeting space.  The restaurants and meeting space will bring revenue to the City of Worcester, along with adding jobs to the local economy.

To show the Legislature’s support for Worcester’s revitalization projects, House Ways & Means Chairman, Robert DeLeo, will be touring the area including; the Rt. 146 project, the Brosnihan Square project and the Visitors Center. 

“It is a great time for my district and constituents.  The construction of the visitors center, along with the Rt. 146 project, and the Brosnihan Square renovation will be a great testament to the people of this area,” stated Fresolo.