Blog Posts

Opposition Holds Rally on Site Proposed for PawSox

8/31/2015

At 5:00 o'clock this afternoon, welcomed in by the raucous and joyous music of the What Cheer? Brigade, a large crowd armed with kites, bikes, dogs, skates, soap bubbles, Frisbees, and the other things one brings along for an afternoon in a park to protest the proposed PawSox stadium on the river's edge off Dyer Street.

We'll have more details soon. But in the meantime, here's a gallery of some of the sights and signs from the event:

Stadium Issue Draws 240 to Dueling Pianos for Q&A Session

8/27/2015

Opponents and supporters of the PawSox move to the Jewelry District came together on Tuesday night at Dueling Pianos. No pianos were played, but there was dueling a-plenty.

Kate Bramson and the Providence Journal were there. You can read her article HERE.

Look really closely at the Journal photograph, and you can the top of JDA President Arthur Salisbury's head in the crowd along with other JDA members.

Sharon Steele, a former JDA President and current chair of our Quality of Life Committee represented the anti-stadium side. The Q & A Forum was moderated by Ted Nesi, television reporter for WPRI-12. What turned out to be a lively, informative and sometimes raucous discussion was presented by Leadership Rhode Island and the Harvard Business School Association of Southeastern New England.

Special thanks to Dueling Pianos for providing their space and staff for this important community event.

PawSox Officials Take a Look at the Victory Plating Site

8/27/2015

Victory Plating breathes its last, March 2012. Photo: 116 Images

Following last night's public Q & A Forum on the proposed PawSox stadium location, team representatives are reported to have toured the Victory Plating site on Eddy Street. An interesting development, though what the intention for the tour was remains unclear.

All we know is what we read in the Projo article HERE.

Sale of Building Sets Stage for Work to Begin in Earnest

7/28/2015

Read the article in the Providence Journal here.

Activity Heats Up Some More on Our Waterfront

7/17/2015

116 Groundwork

Rendering courtesy SGA. Special thanks to GCPVD.org

Things continue to move (slowly and deliberately) around the South Street Landing site on the waterfront.

Signs have already gone up announcing the beginning of work on the power plant. (See our earlier item on this page.) The occasional hardhat has been seen on the site.

On July 17th, the Providence Journal reported that planning is underway for the relocation of the transformer substation (photo at left) to make room for a 744-car parking garage planned as part of the South Street Landing project.

The Journal said, "National Grid is moving ahead with relocating a substation standing in the way of the nursing education center proposed for the Jewelry District, according to a utility official. But it won't be moving the equipment – critical to powering downtown – far, perhaps a couple of hundred feet, according to utility spokesman David Graves."

"Rhode Island College, the University of Rhode Island and Brown University two years ago announced their intentions to relocate some academic programs and administrative personnel into the vacant South Street Power Station, which a Boston real estate firm plans to renovate as part of its $215-million South Street Landing project."

Read the full story from the Providence Journal here.

Meanwhile, on another front, at the upcoming City Plan Commission Meeting, preliminary and final plans will be presented for the parking garage. And at the meeting the Commission will review the institutional master plan for the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center (NEC).

Just by the way, the appearance of the name Rhode Island Nursing Education Center on the commission's formal agenda seems to make it and NEC official for the combined nursing schools.

City Plan Commission meeting convenes at 4:45pm,
on Tuesday, July 21, 2015
444 Westminster Street, First Floor

Another Sculpture Emerges in the District

6/29/2015

What the heck?

We noticed another sculpture arising in the Jewelry DIstrict the other day.

Since it was just starting its development, we weren't sure whether it was
an authorized I-195 Commission commission, or a guerrilla work of art.

On Monday, the 29th, with a fortuitous meeting the facts emerged:

Aleksandra Azbel is busily putting up a new work of art for the 195 Commission
at the southeast corner of Richmond and Clifford Streets.

With any luck, if the drunks leave it alone and the planting works, vines will twiine
their way up the sculpture in the next growing season.

Signs of Work Showing at the Power Plant

6/16/2015

Walking past our beautiful, abandoned power plant the other day, we noticed glimmerings of activity. Banners announce the Brown, RIC and URI collaboration. A Gilbane banner newly nailed up on the brick wall.

And, perhaps most telling, three brand new dumpsters and portable toilets on site.

Maybe hammers and saws will once again be heard above the noise of traffic on Eddy Street.

Proposal Unveiled for Largest Development Plot in I-195 Land

6/16/2015

Richmond St. in foreground, Clifford St. at left, Dyer St. in background. Photo: 116 Aerials

At the June 16 meeting of the 195 redevelopment District Commission, developers presented a mixed-use concept for the two parcels that make up the largest site offered by the destruction of Interstate 195 through the Jewelry District. In what JDA President Arthur Salisbury described as a "very complete presentation", developers showed conceptual drawings for a million-square feet of new construction that could rise on the 5 acres of Parcels 22 and 25. In all the project would have laboratory buildings, two laboratory/office buildings, a 175-room Le Meridien hotel, 100 residential units, retail space and a public meeting/event space. For the Providence Journal account of the meeting, click here.

The proposal was made by a partnership linking CV Properties LLC, and Baltimore, Md.-based Wexford Science & Technology. CV Properties is already at work in the District: they are converting the long-abandoned power plant into offices for Brown University and nursing school facilities for Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island.

The developers plan to build out the and in three distinct phases. The slide show below shows how they see the process unfolding, beginning with the hotel, large cafe and a lab/office/academic building.

For the CV/Wexford presentation, click HERE.

Keep the Ball Rolling: Minor League Baseball Chief Talks about the Stadium

6/11/2015

Photo: NBCMiami

On June 3d, Pat O’Conner, president and CEO of Minor League Baseball, was in town to promote the idea of a waterfront baseball park on the Providence River.

WRNI's Scott McKay offered his observations on O'Conner's sales pitch. "A burly, folksy southerner, the Florida-based O’Conner told the gathering that most minor league stadiums –75 percent or so—are built with public subsidies of some form or another. He also said that in many instances, these new stadiums help to bring ancillary economic development to the areas near the parks, including hotels, restaurants, condo developments and shopping attractions."

You can read McKay's full account of the event here.

Fine Artists of the Jewelry District Exhibition Opens at ArtProv Gallery

6/9/2015

ArtProv Gallery has just opened its latest show focused on creativity in the District.

The Gallery says that "Fine Artists of the Jewelry District”, will feature paintings, photography, and sculptural work by artists creating and thriving in Providence’s Jewelry District, which was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1985. Once a thriving manufacturing area, the Jewelry District is now a dynamic live/work neighborhood with a rich architectural heritage.   Behind the beautiful old facades, the Jewelry District is alive with creative energy from so many accomplished artists. We’re thrilled to show visitors the amazing talent we have in our own backyard.

For a preview of the art on exhibit, gallery hours and contact information, click here.