Worcester Auditorium, Gardner redevelopment among Central Mass. economic projects to receive $31M
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The Worcester Memorial Auditorium
Fifty-six cities, towns, and organizations throughout Central Massachusetts have been awarded $31.06 million to boost their economic development projects through the state’s Community One Stop for Growth, a portal streamlining the application process for 12 state grant programs.
Funded projects include the renovation of the Worcester Memorial Auditorium, the Rear Main Street revitalization in Gardner, the redevelopment of a section of the former Saint-Gobain campus in Worcester, and Mill Street bridge repair in Southbridge.
The Central Massachusetts awardees were named amongst 171 community grant recipients receiving $161 million in funding throughout the state. Financing was awarded to 313 projects related to planning and zoning, site preparation, building construction, infrastructure, and housing development, according to a Thursday press release from the Gov. Maura Healey Administration.
The full list of grants is available here. The higher profile recipients in Central Massachusetts include:
- City of Gardner received $3.5 million from the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program to enhance water, sewer, and drainage infrastructure and associated parking for the private construction of a 45-unit multi-family market rate residential project.
- Worcester Housing Authority received $3.5 million from the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program to develop public open space on Great Brook Valley Avenue and Tacoma Street as part of its Curtis Apartments redevelopment project. This includes adding new subsurface utility connections, additional rights of way, and enhanced pedestrian circulation to the residential buildings.
- City of Worcester received $2.8 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program to redevelop a the former Saint-Gobain 51-acre industrial campus in the Greendale neighborhood, providing approximately 1-million square feet of manufacturing space.
- City of Worcester received $1 million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program to work with Boston-based Architectural Heritage Foundation to develop a multipurpose entertainment facility and AI innovation Center at the Worcester Memorial Auditorium.
- Town of Southbridge received $2.7million from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program to complete the repair of two bridges on Mill Street in 2026.
- City of Framingham received $2 million from the HousingWorks Infrastructure Program to improve the intersection at Fountain Street and Dudley Road, connecting more than 500 housing units at its Bancroft Lofts building.
The grants are administered through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and MassDevelopment, a Boston-based quasi-public agency promoting economic growth throughout the state.
The state’s One Stop portal received 756 applications from 510 organizations with projects in 229 communities throughout the state. Along with the Central Mass. awardees, the total 313 project grant recipients will create more than 18,000 units of housing, 4,000 of which will be affordable units; 31,000 permanent jobs; and more than 14 million square-feet of commercial development.
“This program enables projects like housing development, downtown revitalization, job creation, infrastructure improvement, and community empowerment that are critical to Worcester and municipalities across the commonwealth,” Worcester City Manager Eric Batista said in the release.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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