FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) - A group of college students has launched a project to study the potential economic impact of the soon-to-open Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Fall River.
Joseph Marshall, committee chairman of the group raising the wall, tells The Herald News the students from Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island, are conducting the study with their instructor, Samuel Sacco.
Sacco’s students did a similar economic impact study of Newport’s Cliff Walk.
Not only will the students consider the possible economic impact the memorial wall could have on Fall River, but they will also look at the city’s other tourist attractions including Bicentennial Park, Battleship Cove and the Marine Museum.
The committee has reached its first fundraising goal of $1.4 million, most recently receiving a $450,000 grant presented in December by Gov. Charlie Baker and another $150,000 appropriation from the Legislature.
In October, 140 aluminum panels engraved with the names of fallen servicemen and women arrived in large wooden boxes at the state pier.
A groundbreaking for the 360-foot-long memorial, which will be an 80% replica of the wall located in Washington, D.C., was held last June. The wall is scheduled to open on Veterans Day.
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