By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — An infusion of $550,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money should help the long-delayed skateboard park and basketball/tennis court project proposed for Jenks Junior High School finally get off the ground, according to city officials.

Pawtucket Planning Director Michael Cassidy said that as part of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package, an additional $1 billion was added to the CDBG program nationwide. Of this, Pawtucket is slated to receive $550,000 that can go toward any of its CDBG project requests in the fiscal ‘09 budget.
Of the four such projects on the table, Cassidy said the Jenks recreational improvements are considered to be the most financially feasible and “shovel-ready.” For several years now, Cassidy has been trying to cobble together funds to pay for the skateboard park and court upgrades, which are estimated to cost approximately $500,000.
The plans call for the construction of a skateboard park, two new tennis courts, a basketball court and a small seating/picnic table area on the school grounds. The school, built in 1975, has two basketball courts and two tennis courts that have fallen into disrepair.
After much discussion about liability and concerns about noise and disruption to nearby classrooms, the School Committee voted last September to approve the Jenks construction plan. At the time, work was roughly slated to begin in either autumn 2008 or spring 2009.
A previous CDBG grant paid for project design plans, and Cassidy said he had set aside the remainder to put toward construction costs. However, when the current financial constraints hit, Cassidy figured the plan would be postponed again until another $200,000 to $300,000 or so could be found in next year’s budget or from some other source. “Now we can move ahead,” he said.
Any money left over from the Jenks project will go toward one of the other three CDBG projects in the Pawtucket pipeline, Cassidy said.
“We’ll try to get as much out the door as we can,” Cassidy said in reference to leftover revenue. He added, however, that given the steep price tag and the current economy, some other CDBG proposals will have to wait.
In addition to the Jenks project, local officials asked for $250,000 to restore Slater Park’s Friendship Garden. The city hopes to rebuild collapsed walls and remove overgrown weeds and other invasive species of plants from the water gardens.
The city had also requested $2 million to totally reconstruct the Max Read Field to improve the combination football/soccer playing area and enlarge the track to meet current Rhode Island interscholastic standards.
Through another CDBG proposal, the city had hoped to receive $1.2 million for the Town Landing Park Development. This project would provide new public access and docking facilities along the city’s waterfront to promote recreational and tourist use.
Mayor James Doyle was predictably pleased by the CDBG boost, echoing Cassidy that the Jenks improvements are first on the list. Doyle also noted that the city has many other projects that would be considered “shovel-ready” if funding was available.
He said much remains to be decided as to the amount of federal stimulus money that will flow to Pawtucket and for what purposes the city may use it.