WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today announced that the city of Woonsocket will receive a $2.5 million boost in its efforts to build two new middle schools and recreational facilities off Hamlet Avenue.

The new schools will replace the existing middle school at Park Place. In April, Reed helped secure $600,000 in federal funding to clean up and restore this former industrial site.

"I am pleased we were able to provide the City of Woonsocket with a flexible source of financing to help build these new schools," said Reed, a senior member of the Banking Committee, which oversees federal housing policy, and member of the Appropriations Committee, which provides all federal spending on HUD programs. "This redevelopment project will help relieve overcrowded classrooms and improve the city's public school system."

Construction on the new schools began last month and is expected to last through 2010. According to local officials, the project is estimated to cost $80 million.

Section 108, the loan guarantee provision of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, allows recipients to transform a portion of their CDBG funds into federally guaranteed loans to support economic revitalization projects. The CDBG program is designed to help low- and moderate-income residents by providing quality, affordable housing and increasing economic development services to neighborhood and senior centers.