On Friday, May 6, Congressman David Cicilline (RI-01) visited Bristol to present $695,491 in federal funding for the conversion of the decommissioned Walley School into a new senior and resource facility.

“For more than twenty years, the Walley School has sat empty and unused. Finally, with this federal investment, we can turn it into a resource for this community,” said Cicilline. “This new facility will enable Bristol to offer a wide range of programming and services – including recreation, healthcare, and community support. Research shows that older adults who engage in senior center activities enjoy improvements in their economic, physical, emotional, social, and mental well-being. This new facility will help us provide these resources for Bristol’s seniors in a safe, welcoming space.”

The development of this facility will not impact the services offered by the Senior Center at Benjamin Church, nor the town contribution toward that organization’s operation. Senior activities coordinated by the Town Parks and Recreation have outgrown their space at the Quinta-Gamelin Center, so some of these services, including the town’s Director of Senior Services and the Director of Social Services and Welfare will be moving to the new facility, as will a Bristol Police Department community policing office.

An estimated 30 percent of Bristol residents aged 65 and older have an annual household income below $20,000, with 9 percent living below the federal poverty line. The location of the Walley School building is closest to the neighborhoods where a majority of those seniors live, making this facility more accessible to that population.

“I wish to thank Congressman Cicilline for sponsoring this Community Project Grant that will help the Town of Bristol reopen the historically important Walley School on the Town Common,” said Town Administrator Steven Contente, who also noted that the Resource Center will serve as a downtown emergency shelter. “The improvements that are now possible to building a Senior and Resource Center will bring our residents together and further build a healthy community.”

“My Council colleagues and I would like to say thank you on behalf of the residents of Bristol to Congressman Cicilline for his tremendous efforts in procuring the $695,000 Congressional Grant which will aide Bristol in completing the $4,000,000 plus improvements to Walley School. The project not only benefits seniors, but all the residents of Bristol,” said Council Chairman Nathan Calouro.

The $695,491 for the new Bristol Senior Center Facility Rehabilitation Project is one of the 10 community project funding requests that the Congressman made to the Appropriations Committee for Fiscal Year 2022.