A project first initiated around 20 years ago that was ultimately stalled by the Covid-19 pandemic is back in action following the announcement that Warren will receive $400,000 in federal funding to help restore the coastline of Belcher Cove next to Jamiel’s Park.

The announcement of the funding came on Friday, Oct. 6 during the 2023 allocation of the Southeastern New England Program (SNEP) Watershed Implementation Grants, which strive to “restore healthy ecosystems, clean water and sustainable communities” in the region.

The Town will receive $400,000 from SNEP, which will be combined with $1.6 million (split up between matches from the Town of Warren, Save the Bay, and other state grants and funding) to accomplish the approximately $2 million project.

The project itself involves the completion of the Jamiel’s Park Restoration project, which began in 2003 to mitigate erosion and flooding, improve shoreline access, cap a former landfill, and provide improved recreational facilities for the residents in the area around the park and beyond.

The initial phases of that project, the grant application states, were completed, but the final phase — restoring the eroding shoreline to the north and northwest of the tennis and basketball courts at the park — stalled out in 2018 due to a lack of funding and the subsequent pandemic.

“This portion of the project is estimated to cost $2 million and will stabilize approximately 1,000 feet of eroding shoreline, improve the Belcher Cove and Palmer River ecosystem through construction of a living shoreline and restoration of the salt marsh, stabilize four (4) acres of park grounds, and provide passive recreational activities to Town residents for improved and expanded access to the waterfront,” the application states.

Also included in the scope of the project is to conduct “additional landfill capping activities” also necessary at the site, utilizing a mix of funding from DEM’s Brownfields Remediation and Economic Development Fund and the Municipal Resilience Program of the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank.
In-kind work from Save the Bay volunteers will also supply 120 hours of site work once the landfill is capped to install plant life that is beneficial to salt marshes and contribute to improved coastal buffering; worth an estimated $3,816.

“It’s going to be an exciting project. It’s a beautiful vista when you get up there looking north at the lower Palmer River…Right now it’s not really accessible,” said Wenley Ferguson, Director of Restoration for Save the Bay. “When you think about it…there isn’t a place you can access Belcher Cove and the lower Palmer River from the neighborhoods. So for that section, I think it’s going to be a real public access enhancement.”

The grant application states the timeline for completion of the project will be 18 months from the receipt of the award, which would mean the project should be complete by early April of 2025.