Accomplishments facilitated by the Revere Beach Partnership:

In October of 2001, Mayor Thomas Ambrosino joined Save The Harbor/Save The Bay in hosting several weekend-long planning sessions with local residents, community leaders and business groups at the Garfield Magnet School to begin to chart a course for a renewed Revere Beach.

Upon completion of these strategy sessions, the community rallied around several innovative ideas, including the establishment of a new non-profit organization that could help bridge gaps that exist between the City of Revere, the state government and local organizations – to raise funds and to begin articulating a clear agenda for the revitalization of Revere Beach.

Since then, the Revere Beach Partnership has been hard at work with city and state officials, as well as various local organizations, to help carry out this important mission – and in just three years - the community is beginning to see the fruits of those collaborative efforts pay off! Thanks to these joint efforts, several major initiatives have been implemented this year which have pointed to a solid revitalization effort at Revere Beach. They are:

1. North Lot Agreement: An innovative idea proposed by Mayor Ambrosino and supported by the Revere City Council, this agreement creates a trust to fund improvements on Revere Beach Reservation. The trust is funded through parking revenues at the North Lot as well as from parking violations along Revere Beach Boulevard and Ocean Avenue.

As a result of this agreement, Revere Beach has been able to benefit from a dedicated revenue source that has drastically improved the aesthetic qualities of the beach - including major flower plantings and regular power washing of beach pavilions.

The trust has also funded, for the first time this summer, a new inmate evening crew from the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office that worked Thursday to Sunday to keep up with high volume of litter that appeared on the reservation by beachgoers.

The Revere Beach Partnership was proud to lead the negotiations with Sheriff Cabral’s office to ensure the trust received the “biggest bang for its buck” for the services rendered. In addition, the Partnership helped prioritize the projects funded by the trust and contributed additional funding to supplement the flower plantings and power washings that were paid by the trust.

2. New Public Safety Monies for Revere Beach: After a string of violent activity on the beach, the Revere State Delegation was successful in including two new budget initiatives to supplement the dedicated state police patrols that have traditionally patrolled the beach.

This money has resulted in a marked improvement for public safety. The Revere Beach Partnership has worked closely with Senate President Travaglini, Senator Barrios, Representative Reinstein and Representative DeLeo to help advocate for this funding and to build a local grassroots campaign to build support for such initiatives. They are:
State Police Gang Unit Earmark: The Legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law a $750,000 statewide appropriation for the State Police Gang Unit. Out of this appropriation, only 7 communities in the state were entitled to these funds – which included Revere. As a result, several major gang busts took place at the reservation and local residents have commented on a noticeable decrease in gang activity since this funding was secured in July.
Community Policing Funds for Revere Beach: This year, the Revere State Delegation secured $20,000 in new monies for the Revere Police, which were used to fund dedicated weekend bike patrols along Revere Beach.

3. $6 Million in Infrastructure Improvements on Revere Beach: The biggest news of the year has been the recent announcement by the Revere State Delegation and Governor Romney that this year’s supplemental budget includes $6 million in new monies for improvements to Revere Beach. Unlike a previous Environmental Bond Bill, this funding will be made available immediately this fiscal year.

This appropriation will fund infrastructure projects, including the installation of new sidewalks on the eastern side of the Revere Beach Boulevard from Revere Street north up to Carey Circle. In addition, funding will be applied to replace the boulevard’s antiquated drainage system and to install numerous traffic calming measures. Other improvements include new lighting and entryways at the reservation.

The Revere Beach Partnership views this announcement as the crowning achievement of a successful year and look forward to working collaboratively with the Department of Conservation of Recreation and the City of Revere over the months ahead to help provide oversight of this project.

4. Tourism, Recreational and Entertainment Activities on Revere Beach: Aside from new monies, community groups including the Revere Beautification Committee, Revere First, and Revere CARES are to be commended for their contributions to the beach’s revitalization efforts by providing ongoing cleanups, flower hangings and recreational activities, including the successful sea kayaking program – all of which have had a major impact in changing the face of America’s First Public Beach.

We are also proud of our efforts hosting and organizing the Revere Beach Partnership Sandcastle Festival this year, which gained national prominence thanks to the talented work of some of the world's best master sculptors who came to compete at America's First Public Beach! Finally, we are working to bring entertainment to the beach in the form of a Summer Music Series with groups including Classic Trax and the popular U2 cover band, Joshua Tree!

The success of this year has proven that, together as a community, we can all make a difference in revitalizing city’s greatest asset and, with continued investment, the true renaissance that all of use envisioned in 2001 for Revere Beach will continue to take shape.