Blackstone Heritage Corridor Visitor Center Set to Open in Worcester

Saturday, October 27, 2018

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Blackstone Visitor Center

The Blackstone Heritage Corridor announced the opening of the new Blackstone Heritage Corridor Visitor Center in Worcester.

“This state-of-the-art facility will be a connecting hub for the newly created Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park, important state parks in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and the Blackstone River Bikeway. The exhibits explore the Valley’s enduring legacy of innovation and invention; immigration, ethnicity, and cultural traditions; transportation history; and changes to architecture and landscapes,” said Devon Kurtz, Acting Executive Director for BHC, and project coordinator for the exhibits at the Center.

The center is located at 3 Paul Clancy Way, and will open on Saturday, October 27.

Festivities begin with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 9:00 a.m., followed by a community celebration from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The Center

The new Visitor Center will be an interpretive, recreational and cultural resource serving as a gateway to the City of Worcester and the communities located in the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor.

“The Visitor Center is such an exciting project because it plays a number of important roles for our community. It’s a site that helps tell the story of the Blackstone Canal and its role in the rise of Worcester as a powerhouse of the American Industrial Revolution. Serving as a gateway into the City, it functions as a launch point for both residents and visitors to learn about the many exciting opportunities we offer. Representing a key investment in the Quinsigamond Village neighborhood, this is a project the City and entire region can be proud of,” said City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr.

The building’s design reinforces themes of industrial history and environmental conservation and reclaimed vital resources from the former brownfield site. The LEED Certified Silver structure features reclaimed brick walls, reclaimed wood flooring, a furnace powered by sustainable wood pellets and solar panels supplying electricity and providing shade.

Bioswales, vegetated areas designed to filter stormwater by capturing pollutants, will filter all the water runoff from the building and parking lots, cleaning the water before it is released into the environment.