The City of New Bedford invites all interested community members to review the Fiscal Year 2020 Community Preservation Act (CPA) applications before the Community Preservation Committee and offer feedback at three community meetings in January.

Several proposed projects directly impact the Acushnet Avenue commercial corridor and the greater north end of New Bedford, including the Capitol Theatre renovation; the Cape Verdean Cultural Center renovation; and the gardens at Riverside Park.

All three meetings will be held at the Main Library in the third-floor meeting room at 6:00 p.m. The following project applicants will be heard at the respective meeting dates:

Thursday, January 9, 2020 6:00 p.m. Main Library-3rd Floor 608 Pleasant Street	Thursday, January 16, 2020 6:00 p.m. Main Library-3rd Floor 608 Pleasant Street	Thursday, January 23, 2020 6:00 p.m. Main Library-3rd Floor 608 Pleasant Street
Project Applications	Project Applications	Project Applications
Rotch Jones Duff House Paint Analysis Digitization of Maritime Records: Whaling Logbooks Digitization of Milton Silvia Negative Collection Stormwater & Community Gardens at Riverside Park Buttonwood Pond Stormwater Management West Beach Bathhouse Phase I Hazelwood Park Bowling Green Fence & Gate	City Clerk Record Preservation Phase I James Arnold Mansion Restoration Allen C. Haskell Public Gardens Bird Coop Restoration Car Barn Masonry & Façade Restoration 117 Union Street Moby Dick Building Restoration Temple Landing II	Verdean Veterans Memorial Hall Restoration Strand Theater First Baptist Sprinkler System & Sanctuary Restoration Hillman Firehouse Restoration Capital Theater Restoration NB Whaling Museum Bourne & Wood Buildings Masonry Restoration Gilbert Russell House Restoration & Preservation

The application process began in September with Step 1: Eligibility Determination. Eligible applicants were invited to submit Step 2: Project Applications in November. Twenty-one applications seeking more than $3.1 million in CPA funding were received by the deadline.

For Fiscal Year 2020, the CPA fund has more than $1.1 million available for eligible projects. The Community Preservation Committee is reviewing the applications and will be conducting the public hearings in order for the applicants to present their projects to the Committee as well as to allow the community to comment in a public setting. Once the Committee has completed its review, the committee will forward its recommendations to the City Council for approval.

The Community Preservation Act was adopted by New Bedford voters through a ballot question in November 2014. This statewide enabling legislation allows communities to create dedicated funding for:  Open Space, Outdoor Recreational Facilities, Historic Preservation, and Affordable Housing activities in the city.  Oversight of this process rests with the Community Preservation Committee (CPC), the body established by the City to oversee the CPA program in New Bedford.

Since Fiscal Year 2018, the CPC has recommended, and the City Council has approved, nearly $4.2 million in CPA funding to thirty-four eligible projects which have preserved historic resources and open space; created community housing opportunities; and both improved and created recreational facilities throughout the city.

For further information and to read the applications, please visit CPC webpage on the city website at:

http://www.newbedford-ma.gov/planning/community-preservation/, or call the CPA Coordinator at 508.979.1488 or email [email protected].