12:44 PM EDT on Monday, September 12, 2005

BY JOHN HILL
Journal Staff Writer

Over the past 19 years, for any organization considering a cultural, recreational or preservation project along the Blackstone River, the first stop has been the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission.

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman

Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee, in window, tours the Riverfront Lofts, in Pawtucket. A cleaner Blackstone River was one reason why the $20-million condominium project came to fruition.

Since its creation, in 1986, the two-state federal commission has been a conduit for $23 million in federal funds, subsidizing more than 400 projects ranging from street signs, bike and canoe races, to $500,000 for the Museum of Work and Culture, in Woonsocket.

Supporters tout it as an early source of seed money that enables worthwhile projects to attract matching funds and gain credibility with donors.

Pawtucket's Director of Planning and Redevelopment Michael D. Cassidy said besides financing feasibility studies for things such as parks or mill building redevelopments, the commission also emerged as a respected broker among municipalities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Towns on both sides of the state line will accept the corridor's judgment on how to spend money where they might not if a planner from some other town or state suggested it, he said.

But some at the federal level are questioning whether heritage corridors -- there are 27 now -- have become unfocused, resulting in the federal government paying for things that are actually the responsibility of state and local governments.

"Why is the federal government involved if you can have state historical areas to do the same thing?" said U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., chairman of the National Parks Subcommittee, during a hearing last year on national heritage areas such as the Blackstone corridor.

"I mean, just because the local folks want it," Thomas said. "I can understand that. And they want the federal government to pay for it. I can understand that."

It's a debate that is more than academic this year, because unless Congress acts to extend it, the corridor's legal lifespan will expire in 2006, when it hits its 20th birthday.

The Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor was created by Congress in 1986. It was a 19-town, two-state zone from Worcester to Providence, intended as an alternative to the traditional idea of a national park as a piece of land the federal government buys and keeps from development.

The idea was that the towns in the corridor were united by their shared heritage of the Blackstone River. The corridor is overseen by a 19-member Corridor Commission, made up of representatives from state agencies, local governments and the participating towns.

It owns no land. It was designed as a clearinghouse for federal aid and a regional planning advisory agency. It has a staff of 14 -- mostly rangers from the National Parks Service -- assigned to it, with their salaries paid by the federal government.

It was originally authorized for 5 years, renewed for another 5 years after that, and for 10 years more in 1996, when five more towns were added. Now, it's up for reauthorization again.

According to a study of the corridor conducted by the National Parks Service, "The premise was that if the valley were understood as an interconnected system, this better understanding might engender new attitudes that would help revitalize the area as a place to visit, work and invest."

Supporters argue that it has kept that promise.

According to the National Parks Service report, the commission, over its 19 years, has helped finance more than 400 projects, which in turn attracted more than $500 million in private and public investment, a 22-to-1 ratio.

Supporters point to the $20-million Riverfront Lofts project in Pawtucket as an example of the corridor's economic payoff. The privately financed condominium development features 59 units in a converted mill building across the Blackstone River from Pawtucket City Hall. The top units are being offered for $700,000 each.

Cassidy said the state's exploding real-estate market was a big factor in Riverfront Lofts' success. But he said there had been real-estate booms in the past that passed Pawtucket by. The difference this time was that the river was cleaner, there was a small park across the street from the mill, and the city had little touches such as period streetlight poles -- all things that at some point got help from corridor and its staff.

"We spent 10 to 15 years getting ready for the ball," Cassidy said of the real-estate surge. "And when they came to dance, we were ready."

Ranne Warner, Riverfront Lofts' developer, agreed.

She echoed Cassidy's observation that other factors were at play, such as a hot housing market and the state's historic rehabilitation tax credits. But she said the big draws were a cleaner Blackstone River and a spruced up Pawtucket, both efforts that have been supported over the years by the Corridor Commission.

Blackstone Valley Tourism Council President Robert Billington, past chairman of the Corridor Commission, said there were more things the commission could do in the next decade.

The commission has been involved in the cleanup of the Blackstone River not by itself, but by providing staff and technical assistance to the Blackstone River Coalition, a volunteer organization that monitors the river's water quality at more than 80 sites.

The Blackstone Valley bike path needs to be extended, Billington said. After years of drifting, plans for a Worcester visitors center and history museum are starting to take form, things the Corridor Commission has been working on for years.

Cassidy said the commission and its staff were able to get Massachusetts officials to see the benefit of Rhode Island projects and vice versa.

"If the corridor goes away, we're going to lose that interconnectedness," Cassidy said. "The state governments can't do that. The local governments don't do that."

The man who is being counted on more than any other to keep the corridor alive is U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee. Among the four senators from Massachusetts and Rhode Island, he is the only Republican, and the Republicans control the Senate.

Chafee said he has been working with other senators who have corridors in their states, singling out Ohio Republican George Voinovich as an ally in the effort.

Part of the difficulty is that the committees that control the corridor's fate are dominated by senators from the western half of the country, where the federal government controls half or more of the land in some states.

To them, federal intervention is less benign. Federal control can be seen as restricting economic development and interfering with the property rights American citizens are supposed to enjoy.

"The objections are more philosophical," Chafee said. "It's not that this is a program that may have gone haywire."

"We've been making a lot of progress," he said. "When the leadership says, 'How can I help you,' I tell them."

The corridor has a dual claim on Chafee. The obvious one is political: it's a federal program prized by elected officials and businesses in the northern half of the state. The other is personal: his father helped create it.

In an interview two weeks before he died, in 1999, Sen. John H. Chafee said he considered the Blackstone corridor "my biggest accomplishment." Congress renamed it the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor in 1999 to honor him.

"He always had a soft spot in his heart for Woonsocket, the river, the history, the natural resources," Lincoln Chafee said. That soft spot produced tangible results, as the elder Chafee was able to use his seniority to win approval for annual increases in the corridor's federal appropriation.

Now, his son, a first-term senator, is trying to continue that legacy.

"I don't want to be the one to drop the ball," he said.

Events this week

Highlights of events this week along the Blackstone:

TOMORROW

7:15 p.m. Singing for Women. Every Tuesday for four weeks, women of all ages are welcome to participate in this series of free singing lessons presented by the Harmony Heritage Chorus at St. Paul's Church, 50 Park St., Pawtucket. Call Harmony Heritage to register, (401) 334-2289.

THURSDAY

Noon. Bag Lunch Boat Tour. Bring your lunch and enjoy a relaxing 45-minute cruise along the Blackstone as autumn approaches. Board the Blackstone Valley Explorer at Woonsocket Landing, River Street, Market Square, Woonsocket. $7/adults; $6/children/seniors. Reservations required. Tours run through the end of next month. Contact the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council at (401) 724-1500.

5 to 7 p.m. Wine & Cheese Reception. Blackstone Valley Tourism Council 20th Anniversary event at Diamond Hill Vineyards, Diamond Hill Road, Route 114, Cumberland. Hosted by Diamond Hill Vineyards. Tickets: $20. Call the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, (401) 724-2200.

FRIDAY

1 to 2:30 p.m. Fridays Timeline Trekkers. Children ages 5 to 10 learn about local wildlife and history through stories, arts, crafts and exploration. Program runs every Friday through Oct. 14. Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park, River Bend Farm Visitor Center, 287 Oak St., Uxbridge, Mass. Call (508) 278-7604 to register.

7 to 8:30 p.m. Hawk Watching in Massachusetts Plus Live Birds of Prey. This introduction to hawk watching by Shawn Carey, president of Eastern Massachusetts Hawk Watch Association, and live birds of prey presentation by Larry Keating is an educational and fun event for anyone interested in raptors. Massachusetts Audubon's Broad Meadow Brook, 414 Massasoit Ave., Worcester, (508) 753-6675. Fee: $6/adult members; $8/adult nonmembers; $4/child members; $6/child nonmembers.

8 p.m. Ditt Ditt Darium. Music from Sweden, Ditt Ditt Darium works with two sung and two bowed voices. This is the group's only New England show outside of Vermont. Tickets: $12. Blackstone River Theatre, 549 Broad St., Cumberland, (401) 725-9272.

8 p.m. Poets & Players Series. Combinations of actors, singers, visual artists and musicians brought together to present vibrant selections from 14 well-known classic and contemporary poets, including Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, John Keats, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson and Fredrico Garcia Lorca. Mixed Magic Theatre, 230 Main St., Pawtucket. Admission: $15/person; $10/groups, students and seniors. Call theater, (401) 475-6675. Show continues Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. through Oct. 30.

SATURDAY

1 to 4 p.m. Historic Great Road Open House. The Great Road effort is known as "Travel Three Hundred Years in Three Miles," features the 1810 Hearthside house (open second Saturday of month), the 1687 Eleazer Arnold House (open fourth Saturday of the month), the 1649 Valentine Whitman House (open the first Saturday of the month) the 1704 Friends Meeting House (open third Saturday of the month), the 1870 William Hannaway Blacksmith Shop (open from Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon for demonstrations and classes, as well as the Wilbur Kelly House in Quinnville, which is open seven days a week. No charge for tours; donations encouraged. Contact: Friends of Hearthside (401) 726-0597.

Pawtucket Arts Festival continues this weekend at Slater Memorial Park, Armistice Boulevard. For schedule details, go to www.pawtucketartsfestival.org

SUNDAY

9 a.m. to 6 p.m. 2005 Central Falls Antique & Custom Car Show. Authentic classic, custom and antique motorcycles and classic oldies music from the Driftwoods along Dexter Street. Admission and parking are free. City of Central Falls, (401) 727-7474.

10 to 11 a.m. Snakes Alive! Join a snake enthusiast for some myth busting about snakes and view a live snake at the Massachusetts Audubon's Broad Meadow Brook, 414 Massasoit Ave., Worcester, (508) 753-6087. Fee: $4/adult members; $6/adult nonmembers; $3/child members; $5 /child nonmembers.

Noon to 4 p.m. Salisbury Street Sampler. Institutions in Worcester's Salisbury Street neighborhood present an afternoon of public events and entertainment highlighting history and culture. Includes free tours, special history activities and interpretive performances. Contact American Antiquarian Society, Salisbury Street, Worcester, (508) 755-5221.

1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Historical Walk. 90-minute interpretive walks along the route French Gen. Comte de Rochambeau took from Rhode Island in 1781 that led to Yorktown to meet up with troops under Gen. George Washington's command during the Revolutionary War. Tours are $5/person and depart from the John Brown House, 52 Power St., Providence. Contact Rhode Island Historical Society, (401) 331-8575.

1 to 3 p.m. Wildflower Walk. Goldenrod, aster and joe-pye weed are in full bloom at the Massachusetts Audubon's Broad Meadow Brook, 414 Massasoit Ave., Worcester. Fee: $6/adult members; $8/adult nonmembers; $4/child members; $6/child nonmembers. Call to register, (508) 753-6087.

1 p.m. and 3 p.m. British Tea Tour along the Blackstone River aboard British Canal Boat, leaving from Central Falls Landing, Broad Street at Madeira Avenue, Central Falls. All seats $17.50. SOLD OUT. Call for alternative dates. Reservations required. Tours continue through the end of next month. Contact Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, (401) 724-2200.

1 to 4 p.m. Blackstone Valley Explorer Thundermist Tour. Discover the cultural heritage of the French and Franco-Canadians who came to settle in Woonsocket in the 19th and early 20th centuries to work the mills and factories in this 45-minute tour aboard a 49-passenger tour boat. Public tours leaving from Woonsocket Landing, River Street, Market Square, across from the Museum of Work & Culture, Woonsocket, at 1, 2, 3, 4 p.m. $7/adults, $6/seniors and children. Tours will continue through the end of next month. Arrive 15 minutes before departure time. Call the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council at (401) 724-2200.

1 to 4 p.m. Annual Apple Social. Enjoy home-baked apple desserts at the Smith-Appleby House, 220 Stillwater Rd., Smithfield. Desserts: $4/person. House tours: $3/adults; $1/children under 12. Contact Smith-Appleby House Museum, (401) 231-7363.

3 p.m. Mighty Wurlitzer Organ Concert. Listen to the powerful sounds of the Stadium Theatre's Wurlitzer organ as it is played by Jack Cook. Stadium Theatre Performing Arts Centre, Monument Square, Woonsocket, (401) 762-4545.

3:30 p.m. Sunday Concerts on the Canal. Bring lawn chair or blanket. Picnic area with grills available. Sunday concerts conclude Sept. 25. River Bend Farm Visitor Center, Blackstone River & Canal Heritage State Park, 287 Oak St., Uxbridge, Mass. (508) 278-7604.

6 p.m. Weinlesefest. German ethnic culture, food and entertainment. Call the German American Cultural Society, 78 Carter Ave., Pawtucket, (401) 726-9873 for information and tickets.

SOURCES: Blackstone Valley Tourism Council Web site www.tourblackstone.com, The Museum of Work & Culture and City of Pawtucket.

Explore the previous installments in the weekly series Summer on the Blackstone, at:

http://projo.com/blackstonesummer