Remembering Notre Dame fire, Patriots visit Fall River, plans for new LePage's: Top stories of last week

As we prepare to kick off a new week, let's take a look back at the week that was.

During a gubernatorial campaign stop in Fall River, Attorney General Maura Healey picked up local endorsements as she spoke to local leaders and got a tour of the City Pier.

Locals also got an update on the long-awaited South Coast Rail, which is is back "on track" for the first time in more than half a century with a plan to open to riders next spring.

In other news, Fall River settled another civil rights lawsuit against the city and the Fall River Police Department, and a new documentary highlights the fight to bring offshore wind energy to Somerset.

But the most read stories of the week on heraldnews.com were the following:

The day changed the Flint forever

On a windy Tuesday afternoon 40 years ago — on May 11, 1982 — residents witnessed one of the most devastating fires Fall River had ever seen. It would destroy the historic Notre Dame church, leave 300 people displaced, damage or destroy 27 homes across five blocks, cause at least $13 million in damage, and leave a permanent scar on the Flint neighborhood.

The church, built of Fall River granite to resemble its namesake in Paris, was an architectural marvel. Its twin steeples were 310 feet high, visible across the city, and its glorious interior contained priceless art including oil paintings by Italian artist Ludovico Cremonini. Notre Dame’s grounds sprawled across a block in an area where tenements were crammed together. It was the center of religious and cultural life for generations of French Canadian people — neighbors, who could do nothing but stand by and weep as the fire consumed it.

“They remember what it was like, and they remember the horror,” said local historian Stefani Koorey, author of “Historic Fires of Fall River." “And they remember standing there watching it happen, watching the towers fall, watching the bells fall.”

40 years ago: Fall River's Notre Dame Church fire changed face of the Flint

Patriots touch down in Fall River

Several Patriots players, along with team owner Robert Kraft and Massachusetts First Lady Lauren Baker, were in Fall River on Wednesday celebrating the reopening of a renovated home for young adults.

The New England Patriots Foundation, Bob’s Discount Furniture, Old Colony YMCA and the Wonderfund all contributed to renovating and refurnishing a house operated by the Old Colony YMCA on Lincoln Avenue. The residence is home to up to seven young people aged 18 through 22 who are engaged with the Department of Children and Families system and is staffed around the clock with employees.

Representatives from each organization involved gathered for a ceremonial ribbon cutting on Wednesday. A handful of Patriots players actually helped do the renovations.

Special visitors: Robert Kraft and these three Patriots players were in Fall River. Here's why.

A 'Farmcoast Affair' at LePage's

Spring marks a season of new beginnings, and that is especially true at one of Fall River's well-known waterfront restaurants.

The tide is turning on the SouthCoast dining scene as LePage's Seafood and Grille — a city staple for over three decades — changes hands.

But fear not, faithful patrons. New owner Jon Paul Van Regenmorter and partner Kayla Botelho promise to stay true to the LePage's that locals have come to know and love while mixing in "new and exciting" things.

The pair's vision for the future of the 439 Martine St. eatery doesn't stray far from its roots. And they pay tribute to its SouthCoast setting — nestled amid local fishing and farming communities — with LePage's new slogan "A Farmcoast Affair."

A fresh start: LePage's Seafood and Grille in Fall River has a new owner. Here's what he has planned.

Moving the Flint forward

A public meeting was held recently to determine what the Flint of the future will look like, generating many ideas but one main concern: Flint residents still want to be around to see it.

“Whenever you hear 'investment,' ‘re-investment,' and the buzzwords 'code enforcement' … people are going to be displaced if there are no mechanisms for making sure that people aren’t displaced,” said Al Araujo, who said in the past he’s lived on Massasoit and Choate streets.

Fall River is one of five cities statewide benefiting from the state’s Neighborhood Hub program, which provides aid to communities struggling to bring vitality back to neighborhoods struggling with high numbers of vacant or abandoned buildings. Mayor Paul Coogan said this meeting was a step on that long road for the Flint.

Neighborhood revitalization: Fall River is fixing up the Flint, but some see higher rents ahead

Fall River doctor honored

A local doctor who has been on the frontlines of the pandemic is being honored for his efforts, as he looks back on more than two years of the most difficult time for health care workers in recent memory.

“This is a new normal. I don’t think any of us ever believed that it would take this long,” said Dr. Daniel Sousa, a pulmonologist and critical care physician with SouthCoast Health who is based at Fall River’s Charlton Memorial Hospital.

The Massachusetts Medical Society, the statewide professional association for physicians and medical students, announced last week that it had selected Sousa as the Bristol South District Medical Society’s 2022 Community Clinician of the Year in light of his “professionalism and contributions as a physician.”

On the front lines: This Southcoast doctor is being honored for his work during the COVID pandemic

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Top stories for Fall River, Westport, Somerset, Swansea, Tiverton