From David P. Riley:
Dear Friends of India Point Park,
Please come to an important hearing on protecting public space at India Point. The RI Transportation Dept. (RIDOT) is planning to sell the Shooters parcel -- right next to the park -- to the highest bidder with no restrictions.
We need to urge RIDOT to delay the sale until AFTER the planning process is completed. It would be tragic for the park, the city, and the state to rush into the permanent sale of one of the state's key assets, which could be a public gateway to the Bay providing significant long-term economic and civic benefits for the region. (MAP: Maguire map of India Point and the new I-195. The Shooters site is two small parcels in white at the end of the two docks just west of the park. Click on map to enlarge.)
WHEN: Monday, March 3, 6PM
WHERE: City Council chambers, Providence City Hall
WHAT: Public hearing on proposal to rezone Shooters (see map below) as Public Space. RIDOT
adamantly opposes rezoning because it would prevent them from selling it to the highest
bidder, which would probably mean high rise luxury condos next to the park, which is
the only expanse of Bay shoreline open to the public in Providence.
WHO: We need you to come Monday and be heard. Your presence and your voice will let
RIDOT know what the park means to us and to the city, and why RIDOT needs to slow down!
(You can also submit written comments at the hearing, or email them to
[email protected]. Please come: we need a crowd!
Read on for TALKING POINTS for Monday's hearing:
TALKING POINTS for Monday's hearing:
A lively waterfront is a multi-purpose destination, not a luxury condo's front yard, especially not at the head of the Bay. Hartford, Boston, Chicago, and other cities have created great public spaces by keeping residences set back from the shoreline, compared to Vancouver where "high rise residential towers along the waterfront have prevented public use from flourishing." www.pps.org/waterfronts/info/waterfronts_articles/
The opportunity to make India Point a revenue-generating public destination on the Bay should not be permanently lost to ease today's financial crunch, serious as it is. That would be penny wise and pound foolish. The Park is a regional attraction used by more than 100,000 people a year, expected to "easily double" when the highway is finished, according to a 2004 Parks Dept report. This means we have a chance to make what Mayor Cicilline calls the city's "entering crown jewel" a more vibrant public space, expanding on the attached list of events.
Protect our waterfront: - It's finite, our signature landmark, near downtown, and highly visible from I-195 by 10 million travelers passing through RI. - It's the hardest hit by storm surges, and no place for residences located outside the hurricane barrier in our era of rising sea levels. - It can be scarred forever by unwise private development: once you change a cucumber into a pickle, you can't change it back. - It's the centerpiece of a 21-mile continuous greenway connecting the East Bay Bike Path to the Woonasquatucket River Greenway, and will be the hub of RI's three major bike paths. - It's being upgraded by $1.3 billion in public works ($650M for I-195, $575M for CSO sewer project, etc.) that you and I paid for -- to become the preserve of a few upscale condo owners? As much of it as possible should be a public asset.
Let our planning process proceed: - It is just beginning for the waterfront: the city's charette is scheduled for late April, to be preceded by a Project for Public Spaces workshop focused on Shooters. - It would be undermined by RIDOT selling a key piece of waterfront before the planning process is done.
High rise condos at India Point would: - prevent full use of the Park for festivals and other public events. - interrupt sweeping water views from the city and from the new I-195, which offers the best water vista from our interstate highways, making it a natural advertisement for tourism, RI's second largest industry. - put our 300-year heritage as a working waterfront at risk in the upper harbor: tugs dock tankers at high tide round the clock, and are required to sound their whistles.
RIDOT needs to look at the larger picture: - We sympathize with RIDOT's budget crunch, but with a $350 million budget, it can handle delaying the sale of one 1.7-acre lot. - It is authorized to sell property at less than fair market value if it has "potential use for parks, conservation, recreation or related purposes" -- which RIDOT has done in the past. (See attached.) - It says its I-195 parks budget has been used up on two small, controversial riverfront parks without Bay views. - It sold the Produce Terminal at a $10 million loss last year, after allowing it to deteriorate for 8 years.
Hope to see you there! David
David Riley Co-Chair, Friends of India Point Park PO Box 603172, Providence, RI 02906 401 521-7929 (ph & fax) [email protected] www.friendsofindiapointpark.org
FRIENDS OF INDIA POINT PARK's mission is to promote and improve the Park, expand public uses of the India Point waterfront, and connect it to other public spaces to form an emerald necklace from the Seekonk to the Woonasquatucket Rivers.
"Great cities around the world have the guts to give their finest parts to the public realm." -- Joe Riley, Mayor, Charleston, SC
"Openness is the one thing you cannot get in buildings." -- Frederick Law Olmsted
"When the community's vision is driving a project, money follows." -- Project for Public Spaces
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