Office of the Mayor

WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND

Mayor Baldelli-Hunt Announces Demolition

Start Date of Former Ho Kong Restaurant as

Cass Park Expansion Project Progresses

WOONSOCKET, R.I.: Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt announced today that demolition of the former Ho Kong Restaurant, now city-owned, will start Monday, August 28th, and be completed by the end of that week. The 1.37-acre property will provide Cass Park with a Cumberland Hill Road entrance and exit and allow expanded parking to meet the anticipated demand for the new facilities that the Cass Park expansion will provide.

The City of Woonsocket bought the property in 2022 using a $312,500 grant from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and ARPA funds. The City removed asbestos from the property before scheduling the demolition.

Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt stated, "This property is important to our Cass Park expansion initiative. It will connect Cass Park to Cumberland Hill Road and increase our parking capacity to make it easier for our residents to access all park features." The Mayor added, "Removing the property’s impervious asphalt and planting native vegetation and trees will beautify the area and reduce the amount of stormwater runoff into Sylvestre Pond."

The Cass Park expansion initiative will bring a new state-of-the-art football field, track, and multipurpose recreation/community center to Woonsocket’s premier park. Recently, the city upgraded Park facilities with new basketball courts, a new woman’s softball field, new playground equipment, new picnic tables, and trash receptacles, and an enlarged and reconstructed parking lot, along with multiple improvements along Cass Pond.