Delahunt: Parks office staying in Boston

Representative Bill Delahunt said late today that the National Park Service has decided to keep its Boston regional office open.

“The federal government’s presence in New England has been reduced significantly during the past eight years, and the recent plan to dismantle the National Park Service Regional office made no sense at all,” Delahunt said in a statement. “The National Parks of New England are important conservation areas and need to be supported by a well staffed and fully functioning regional office.”

A proposal would have closed the Boston office at 15 State St., and moved its operations to Philadelphia, reducing the number of Boston jobs from 107 to 45. Delahunt and other members of the Massachusetts delegation wrote Parks Service Director Jonathan Jarvis in protest.