Welcome to Winthrop, Gov Baker — and Thank You!

Winthrop will have the honor of a visit from Gov. Charlie Baker tomorrow (Friday) at noontime when the governor comes to Winthrop Centre to announce the award of a $2.38 million grant to the Town of Winthrop for infrastructure improvements to spur economic and housing development in our principal business district.

The funds are part of the MassWorks Infrastructure program that supports private investment throughout the state. In the words of Gov. Baker, “MassWorks aims to make targeted, impactful investments in the economic future and growth of our cities and towns and the job opportunities available to Massachusetts residents.”

The Winthrop project will be used for significant public infrastructure upgrades to revitalize our Centre, including water, sewer, roadway, sidewalk, streetscape, and other improvements.

The MassWorks award furthers the completion of our town’s Master Plan for the revitalization of the Centre and the reuse of the nearby, former Winthrop Middle School. We should note that the creation of a Master Plan was funded through a previous Urban Agenda Economic Development Planning Grant from the Baker-Polito Administration in January, 2016.

There are many others who deserve to be recognized for assisting the town in receiving this significant funding, chief among them being Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash, the former city manager of nearby Chelsea, who pushed for the funding for the Winthrop program.

“When we give communities access to a diverse set of resources, we can accelerate the pace of thoughtful, long-term planning that supports increased economic activity and gives towns the ability to fulfill their community vision,” said  Ash. “I congratulate Winthrop on their foresight and smart planning to revitalize the Centre Business District to attract new private investment to the town.”

In addition, our state representative, House Speaker Bob Deleo, once again proved instrumental in bringing to the attention of our state officials the need for, and the benefits to be attained by, making this significant investment in our community.

The MassWorks Infrastructure Program is yet another example of the sort of concrete (no pun intended), common-sense investment in our state’s future that has become a hallmark of the Baker administration. MassWorks has committed $500 million for investment in critical infrastructure since 2016 and the Baker-Polito Administration has increased MassWorks funding by $35 million over the past two fiscal years.

We know we join with all of our fellow residents in offering a sincere, “thank you,” to Gov. Baker for this demonstration of his faith in the future of Winthrop and (although Friday looks to be a beautiful beach day!) we hope as many residents as possible make their way to the Centre at noontime to show the governor that we appreciate what he is doing for our community.