Shekarchi Announces $419,000 DEM Grant for Mickey Stevens Sports Complex

House Speaker-elect K. Joseph Shekarchi announced that the Mickey Stevens Sports Complex in Warwick has been selected to receive a grant of more than $419,000 to assess and remediate environmental issues there.

The grant comes from the Brownfields Remediation and Economic Development Fund and made available through the Green Economy Bonds authorized by the General Assembly and approved by voters in 2018.

The Mickey Stevens Sports Complex, located at 925 Sandy Lane, Warwick, was set for a $7 million upgrade approved by Warwick voters over a decade ago, but the project was shelved in the Great Recession. This summer the city announced an effort to resurrect the project.

This grant, totaling $419,181, will be used to assess and remediate a former landfill located on the property. According to the Department of Environmental Management, that work is expected to result in about 150 temporary jobs and help preserve a large public asset.

Speaker-elect Shekarchi said he is very pleased that the complex has been selected for the grant, because the renovations are an investment with many benefits.

“Renovating the Mickey Stevens Complex is fantastic for our community, our economy and our environment. This generous grant will remediate a brownfield that is a danger to our environment and to the people who use the complex or live in the area. It will bring us closer to completing renovations that make the complex a better recreational resource for our youth and our whole community. And it will put people to work and it will help make the complex an even more attractive site for national tournaments, which pack the local hotels and pump money into the local economy. This is an excellent investment, and I’m very grateful to DEM for recognizing its value. I look forward to the exciting improvements in store for Mickey Stevens,” said Speaker-elect Shekarchi.

The grant was the second-largest of a number of Brownfields Remediation and Economic Development Fund grants announced today by DEM.

“The Mickey Stevens Sports Complex has been an institution in Warwick, serving generations of youth and adult athletes and attracting national sports competitions to Rhode Island,” said DEM Director Janet Coit. “Speaker-Elect Shekarchi went to bat for this brownfields site preparation and redevelopment grant, which will unlock other needed funding to revitalize the complex. Brownfields grants are some of our smartest public investments and DEM is pleased to join with Speaker-elect Shekarchi in helping the City of Warwick take the next steps with this important renovation that will benefit so many.”

Not including the new grants, DEM has provided $12 million in grants for projects located in 14 different communities since the program was established. This funding has leveraged more than $835 million in other investments and has supported around 7,800 jobs while helping to build new schools, businesses, affordable housing, and green energy across the state. Notably, DEM’s program has created 14.9 permanent jobs for every $100,000 of investment compared to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimate of 7.3 jobs created per $100,000 of investment nationally.