Friends of the Rail Park (FRP) is the 501(c)3 organization that designs and implements public programs and engagement strategies for park users. We are also responsible for managing and resourcing future phases of the Rail Park’s development and advancing equitable development strategies in support of people living, working, and going to school in the neighborhoods adjacent to the Rail Park.
The Rail Park is a three-mile park and infrastructure reuse project. Phase I, which opened in 2018, is a quarter-mile section of the elevated park that stretches from 1300 Noble Street onto the Viaduct at 11th and Callowhill. The likely location of Phase II is west of Broad Street. When complete, the Rail Park will connect 10+ neighborhoods and 50 city blocks.
As FRP considers the next phase of Rail Park development, we are proactively linking park development with community development. FRP must lead significant efforts around community engagement, planning, and physical redevelopment, that is both neighborhood- and interest-based.
In this unprecedented moment of community and infrastructure investment from the federal government, we are interested in doing a scan of what federal funding and programmatic opportunities might be relevant to the Rail Park and the communities it serves. Critical areas of consideration include:
- What kinds of costs / stage of the project's life cycle is the opportunity appropriate for?
- Funding timelines
- Reporting/administrative requirements
- Match requirements
- How competitive the application process is
- Other considerations or requirements of the funding opportunity (i.e. one proposal per metro area, required partners, required letters of support, etc.)
Deliverable(s): The deliverable should include an inventory of funding opportunities and a list of recommendations and priority opportunities for FRP to pursue.
