Cricket Field renovations are underway with the $1.2 million project, funded by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) promoting appreciation of the natural environment and healthy living along the Woonasquatucket River.
“It is a gateway between Johnston and North Providence,” said Alicia Lehrer, executive director of the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council (WRWC), whose organization worked on the project in cooperation with RIDOT and the town.
In a recent meeting of the mayor, town officials, RIDOT representatives and members of the Woonasquatucket River Wathershed Council, details and scheduling for the project that began in July were discussed.
The project location, which lies along the Woonasquatucket River at Angell Street, directly across from the Greystone Mills complex, wedged between the towns of Johnston, North Providence and Smithfield, is ideal for a recreational area and river launch activities, according to those involved.
“They’ve decided to make it a nice place for people to enjoy – for people to recreate. I think the best thing about it is that it didn’t cost the Johnston taxpayers anything out of their pockets,” said Mayor Joseph Polisena.
Funding from the project comes from federal highway earmarks through funds previously approved for recreational projects and the Northwest Bike Path. The design for the project was funded years back by the Gregson Foundation and Metals Recycling, according to Lehrer.
“It’s something that WRWC put together in 2004-2005,” said David Capalbo, engineer for RIDOT. “The design was pretty much complete before it came to our department. Coordinating with WRWC we had contracts 1 and 2 that were complete for the Northwest Bike Path. Extended up to Lyman Avenue and then there’s a void up to Cricket Field. That’s another potential project. Cricket Field looked like a logical point for a future bike path.
The project at the Cricket Field site will include a paved, open-access walking path in a park-like setting, a gazebo, bike racks, extended paths to the adjacent neighborhoods, plantings, invasive species removal and historical signage markers.
“We are pleased to be working with the city [town] of Johnston and the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council to make this recreational area a reality for the residents,” said Rose Amoros, spokesperson for RIDOT.
“The project got started because the former mill owners provided funding to the Woonasquatucket River Council years ago to fund a project around Greystone Mills,” said Lisa Aurecchia, program director at the watershed council. “Restoring this park was one of the things that came out of it and we are really excited about it.”
“This is a good thing. Lisa has worked very hard by spearheading this project with a lot of patience. I think it is going to bring a lot to the area,” said Polisena. “It’s historical in nature, too.”
The name Cricket Field is derived from activities held at the field in the early 1900s, according to historical accounts found in the October 1907 issue of the Textile American.
The Greystone Social Club, located directly across the river from the field, was formed as a social club for English mill workers, similar to what they had experienced in their homeland of Yorkshire, England. The textile mill workers formed a cricket team named Benn’s Mohairs, who played against teams from other Rhode Island mills. The owners of the Greystone Mill donated the field.
“I always say, ‘If you don’t know your history, you don’t know where your future’s going to be,’” said Polisena.
The project is also scheduled to have a river access launch for kayaks and canoes as well as a boardwalk and overlook the dam at Angell Street.
According to Aurecchia, the river launch will allow for increased recreational activities along the Woonasquatucket.
“That is also one of the sites where we do water testing. We’ve [WRWC] had a volunteer doing testing there for years,” she said.
In conjunction with the project, the town is planning to pave Angell Street.
”Council President Robert Russo submitted that street,” said Polisena. “That street is really in bad shape. It’s going to get done.”
The project, already under construction, is scheduled for completion by June 2014.
“The actual construction, as we know it, for the walkways, the parking, the boardwalk and overlook is this November,” said Capalbo. “The plantings, because of the cold season, will be next spring.”
“People believe if you build it, they will come,” said Polisena. “They will come.”
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