Providence needs another empty ‘luxury’ condo tower like it needs another pothole. The Providence Journal has an article about the competing interests (and it is complicated) regarding the old Shooters site at India Point Park. The Fox Point Neighborhood Association as well as Head of the Bay Gateway, a local advocacy group, are pressing for a public mixed-use site.
Those residents have fought proposals to build a high-rise hotel or condominium development on the site, and envision the old nightclub as a marina complex that could represent a major economic boost to the state, providing a ferry dock for public transit on Narragansett Bay, a restaurant, a dinner hall, a public market and space for festivals and concerts.
But the state (the current owner as a result of the Iway project) has obligations under its agreement with the Federal Highway Administration. Also, the city could play a role by rezoning the area and restricting its residential use. The state has announced that it is planning to put the property up for bid later this month.
Why does the government have to “play a role” in anything here? You want an entertainment venue and restaurant? That’s what the property was, and like a lot of buildings in the city it needs to be rehabilitated. It is presumably already zoned commercial because it was a bar/nightclub, so let someone with a business plan come in and open up a restaurant or dinner hall there.
I would be interested to see what kind of “major economic boost” a municipal dock and marina is going to provide to the state. India Point Park is right there with plenty of space for festivals, and WBRU used to have concerts there every summer. The government should unload the property and NOT rezone it residential.
I was glad to see Mayoral candidate Angel Taveras sign the petition in support of a public waterfront at the Shooters site.
If you haven’t you should sign too:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/make-shooters-public
I’m not sure what can or cannot be done with the existing building. I do know that it’s currently under asbestos mitigation, which does not bode well. (To be fair, at least one other building nearby has it much worse, though for peculiar legal reasons no one’s doing anything about it. At least, that’s how it’s been explained to me.)
I’ve got nothing against the old Shooters, and echo Mangeek’s thoughts on that, but at the moment I’ve got little hope of it ultimately being saved.
I am a huge ferry booster, but I don’t think it’s necessary to knock this property down or convert it in order to have that.
Am I the only one who liked what it was before? I think that area could totally use a giant multi-level bar with a dock.
There’s plenty of parking, great views, and the building is already designed for it.
Must every piece of property that changes state hands become some sort of non-profity community-center type thing? Doesn’t the huge park next door kind of satisfy the ‘public’ interest already?