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ATTLEBORO - Eleven months ago, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern promised the city he would work to get more money for the multi-million dollar downtown revitalization project if the city committed itself to the project with a cash donation of its own.

Soon after, the city council authorized the borrowing of $2.4 million to fulfill its part of the bargain, and Thursday McGovern, D-Worcester, fulfilled his.

He met with city officials, including Mayor Kevin Dumas, Council President Barry LaCasse and board members from the Attleboro Redevelopment Authority and told them he, along with Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, had secured another $500,000 earmark for the project in the federal Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2008.

President Bush was expected to sign the bill on Thursday or today, he said.

"From my perspective, this is a simple case of promises made and promises kept," McGovern told city officials during a meeting in the office of ARA attorney Ed Casey. "This latest earmark comes in direct response to the courageous action of the mayor and the city council." At this time last year, the city had yet to approve an urban renewal plan needed to execute the project and it had not put a dime on the table to support it.

On Jan. 25 at a special meeting of the council, McGovern warned that he would not seek more money for the city without a cash commitment. He also warned the city could lose the money it had already been promised.

The latest $500,000 brings the federal contribution for downtown revitalization to $9.6 million, he said.

Meanwhile, the state is committed to 20 percent of some of that, pushing the total well over $10 million.

McGovern described the project as "historic" and one that "will transform the city."

Plans to revitalize downtown began when McGovern and his colleagues in the Senate garnered the first earmark in 1999, which was originally meant for a much smaller project including an MBTA commuter rail parking garage, a GATRA bus station and some space for commercial development.

But city officials pushed to expand the the plan to include hundreds of condos, street improvements and more commercial space.

If the entire plan is eventually put into effect, it will cost at least $60 million and take as long as 20 years to complete.

The first phases of the project will take place on a 32-acre swath between the Ten Mile River and Amtrak railroad tracks and County and Olive streets.

Phase 1A, which includes acquisition of the property, moving businesses and the city's public works yard, is expected to cost about $14.7 million. Phase 1B involves roadwork, including the construction of a street from County Street to Olive Street. McGovern said the $500,000 would be applied to funding for Phase 1B of the project, which the Federal Transit Administration is aiming to consolidate with Phase 1A in an attempt to cut about two years off the project.

GEORGE W. RHODES can be reached at 508-236-0432 or at grhodes@thesunchronicle.com.