First new public park in 30 years advances to a Fall 2022 ground breaking
BankNewport has made a $100,000 charitable contribution to the Newport Historic Spring to advance the effort to install a public park on the site of the original town spring and the birthplace of Newport. This represents the largest corporate contribution to the project to transform the former Coffey’s gas station into a park that pays tribute to the values of religious freedom and tolerance, the founding principles of Newport as the first secular government in the colonial period of the United States.
After years of careful planning, site remediation, the discovery and study of the 18th-Century spring box, and extensive input by the City of Newport and the public, the vision for this park will become a reality once this $3.5 million phase two is fully funded. A total of $2.7 million has now been raised and the leaders hope to raise the final funding by September 2022 to break ground and begin construction. To learn more about the Newport Historic Spring, visit www.newportspring.com.