Historic visit by Warren, Markey, Lynch touts $11M for these Brockton projects
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BROCKTON – BAT driver Glenn Coward used to live in sight of the Cosgrove Pool. He recalls summer days at the East Side facility.
"You'd scrap with your buddies, then go home and eat dinner together," Coward said after driving both Massachusetts senators and Brockton's congressman from City Hall to the pool Friday.
The visit to the 270 Crescent St. pool capped a celebration of the city's federal delegation securing more than $11 million in federal taxpayer dollars for various Brockton projects.
About $3 million of that will give the Cosgrove a complete makeover.
Friday's visit to Brockton by senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch marked the first time in living memory that both sitting senators and the city's representative in Congress came to the city at the same time, according to several longtime Brocktonians who attended, including Mayor Robert Sullivan.
The visit began in City Hall's Great Hall with nearly 200 people in attendance. Sullivan, Warren, Markey and Lynch each made remarks under priceless paintings commemorating the Civil War. An energetic Sullivan ticked off the projects, which include:
$3 million to renovate Cosgrove Pool, including making it accessible for disabled people
$2 million to study a long-term solution to dispose of the city's solid waste
$2.05 million for an Old Colony YMCA for family engagement and education
$2 million for NeighborWorks Housing Solutions’ "Transit-Oriented Development" at 1200 Montello St.
$1 million for Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital to add behavioral health beds in its temporarily closed emergency room
$337,000 for Family and Community Resources Inc. to increase capacity at its mental health clinic
$1 million for Brockton Neighborhood Health Center to make space for six primary care providers and increase substance-use disorder services
"We try to be a good team for Brockton every single day," Markey said. "It can be housing, a swimming pool, mental health, whatever you ask for."
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Pool plans
The renovations to the Cosgrove could get underway as soon as June, according to Ward 5 City Councilor Jeff Thompson. The pool would reopen in summer 2024 if that timetable holds.
"The pool's going to be a great resource for the East Side," said Thompson, who learned to swim at Cosgrove Pool. "This is going to be a great place for kids and families."
Markey, who learned to swim in a Malden pool, said he knows how important public pools are for working-class kids. Markey spoke of Brockton cousins Tiago Depina, 12, and Rafael Andrade, 13, who drowned in Waldo Lake in 2021.
"We can't forget that unimaginable loss," Markey said. "This pool gives every child an opportunity to learn to swim."
Health care help
Another set of federal grants would improve access to health care for city residents. It includes $1 million for Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital to add beds for mental health patients, once it reopens from this month's fire. Emergency rooms across the state have been in crisis, unable to handle the number of mental health patients seeking help. Waits of days and weeks are common for these patients.
Warren said residents have a right to mental health services that everyone can access,"not after staying in a hallway for three days but getting people the help they need when they need it."
The new federal dollars would also help address the city's homelessness problem.
"Right now we're seeing a lot of homeless folks in Brockton," Sullivan said. "They're my residents and we have to take care of them."
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A fix for sewage waste?
Another major earmark is $2 million to address the city's sewage waste problem. Right now, Brockton trucks its waste to an incinerator in Connecticut.
"That arrangement is not going to last forever," City Council President Susan Nicastro said in a Wednesday phone call. "The EPA is frowning on incineration. We're using the funds from the federal government to decide what to do. We don't have to reinvent the wheel. Every community has these issues."
Sullivan repeated his pledge that, whatever solution Brockton chooses, an incinerator in Nicastro's Ward 4 is off the table.
"I'll never allow an incinerator in Ward 4. It just won't happen," Sullivan said.
Lynch, who has represented Brockton for 20 years, said the list of projects came about through discussions with the mayor and the city's delegation on Beacon Hill, among others.
"There's grit and strength in the people of the city of Brockton that you can't not love," Lynch said. "We've got good things going in the city of Brockton."
Following his visit to Brockton, Markey headed over to Bridgewater State University to meet with faculty, staff and students at BSU's cybersecurity program and tour the planned Cyber Range to learn more about the university’s plans for a first-of-its-kind bachelor’s degree program in cybersecurity and two accompanying centers created to give students hands-on experience in the field.
Send your news tips to reporter Chris Helms by email at CHelms@enterprisenews.com or connect on Twitter at @HelmsNews. Thank you, subscribers. You make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Brockton Enterprise.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton visit: Warren, Markey, Lynch tout funds for Cosgrove Pool
