PROVIDENCE – It’s official, Topgolf Rhode Island is now coming to Cranston.
Cranston Mayor Kenneth J. Hopkins announced the news Friday just days after criticizing the company for calling its first New England location Topgolf Providence, even though the entertainment facility is expected to open on Sockanosset Cross Road in Cranston this fall.
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“The people of Cranston are very excited and proud to have a venue like Topgolf coming to our city, as has been evidenced by conversation over the last couple of days,” Hopkins said in a press release. “We are delighted to share that Top Golf has agreed to designate their new home in Cranston as ‘Top Golf Rhode Island.’ ”
Hopkins said in his statement that his stance was not a slight on Providence. He said the name change was symbolically important to Cranston, and it gives the city more proper recognition as the host community for Topgolf.
“With this gesture, Topgolf has demonstrated one of the reasons why we are so excited that they are coming to Cranston, and we are looking forward to continuing to work with them as they become the premier entertainment destination in the region,” Hopkins said.
On Wednesday Hopkins told WPRI-TV that Topgolf said it wanted Providence on the name as part of the company’s marketing strategy.
“I told them over a month ago we are adamant about the naming rights,” he told WPRI-TV. “I would want Topgolf Rhode Island or Topgolf Cranston.”
Hopkins told WPRI-TV that Topgolf hadn’t returned his calls in a month and his office is studying the contract to see if there’s a way the two sides can come to terms.
“We worked hard to bring this here. I mean, I’ve said it from Day 1, this is the biggest recreational facility since Rocky Point existed,” Hopkins said. “We don’t want them coming here thinking they’re going to Providence. We want them to think they’re coming to Cranston.”
Topgolf did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Let me get this straight, the city of Cranston worked “hard” to get an entertainment complex based on a dying sport built next to an empty office building where Citizen’s left them high and dry and represents a glaring black eye on the city’s economic record. Really?