Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program Announcement of Grants to 44 Cities and Counties.

The White House today announced grants to 44 cities and counties, totaling $17.1 million, under the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery (UPARR) program. The program is part of the President's urban policy legislative program and offers direct matching grants to eligible local governments to rehabilitate urban park and recreation systems.

The UPARR program is a key element in the administration's plan to revitalize American cities. The program is designed to revitalize neighborhood recreation opportunities in the Nation's most distressed cities, while encouraging local and State governments to make greater use of their own resources for urban recreation.

The grants announced today are the first in a series to be awarded over a 5-year period. The 44 jurisdictions announced today were selected from over 200 applications, whose proposals totaled more than $90 million. Cities and counties whose applications were not selected for funding this time will automatically be held over for consideration in the next funding cycle.

Factors considered in the selection of projects were: the expansion of neighborhood recreation opportunities and the extent to which a project would provide jobs for minorities, youth, and low- and moderate-income neighborhood residents. Other factors were the quality of local recreation system planning, the degree of need, and the applicant's ability to match Federal funds with private and local contributions.

The program was approved by the 95th Congress as title X of the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-625). It is administered by the Interior Department's Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service.

The 44 cities and counties whose grants are being announced today are Birmingham, Ala., Tucson, Ariz., San Francisco, Calif., San Jose, Calif., Bradenton, Fla., Dade County, Fla., Savannah, Ga., Chicago, Ill, Bloomington, Ind., Alexandria, La., New Orleans, La., Boston, Mass., Cambridge, Mass., Lowell, Mass., Detroit, Mich., Minneapolis, Minn., Pascagoula, Miss., St. Joseph, Mo., Camden County, N.J., Essex County, N.J., Hoboken, N.J., Irvington, N.J., Perth Amboy, N.J., Plainfield, N.J., Bernalillo County, N. Mex., New York, N.Y., Syracuse, N.Y., Utica, N.Y., Cincinnati, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Lincoln Heights, Ohio, Steubenville, Ohio, Warren, Ohio, Lawton, Okla., Portland, Oreg., Memphis/Shelby County, Tenn., Galveston, Tex., Laredo, Tex., Portsmouth, Va., Richmond, Va., Seattle, Wash., Tacoma, Wash.