PROVIDENCE – The impending change in City Hall administration could throw a wrench in plans to remake Kennedy Plaza with a $7 million food-and-drink pavilion.
The city originally planned to award the contract for the “big shade” project in December, right before Mayor Jorge O. Elorza leaves office. Assuming the sole bidder who responded meets the qualifications, Elorza “hopes to continue on schedule,” according to Andrew Grande, a spokesperson for the mayor.
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But just a month later, the term-limited mayor is out, and his replacement, Brett Smiley, does not appear to support Elorza’s grand vision to remake Kennedy Plaza.
Speaking generally about Elorza’s plans for Greater Kennedy Plaza, Smiley said he was “hesitant to spend” until construction on the nearby “Superman” building is finished.
“I think we should wait for that project to conclude before we make any permanent changes [to Kennedy Plaza] because the construction impact is going to be significant,” Smiley said in an interview on Oct. 7. “We shouldn’t be blocking off Westminster Street or spending money on infrastructure dollars in Kennedy Plaza when it could be a construction site for three years.”
Asked specifically about the pavilion project in a follow-up inquiry, Smiley again said he doesn’t believe in “designating critical dollars to a space that is about to undergo so much change over the next few years.
“With the relocation of bus terminals already underway and a massive construction project on the horizon in the Superman building, we should not be limiting ourselves to the current layout of Kennedy Plaza as we reimagine this space,” Smiley said in an emailed statement on Friday.
Demolition work related to the “Superman” building redevelopment is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, according to Bill Fischer, a spokesman for High Rock Development, which owns the building.
The city has said the pavilion project would begin construction in 2024, according to bidding documents. The city stopped accepting bids for the project on Sept. 29.
The sole bid on the project, from Boston-based Merge Architects Inc., centers around a rotisserie chicken restaurant, with outdoor seating and event space and landscaping. The $7.2 million cost falls within the city’s $8.2 million spending cap and is being funded through its American Rescue Plan Act budget.
Although city lawmakers already approved a spending plan for its federal stimulus dollars, Smiley also indicated that he might want to shift some of those funds around to focus on one-time needs over programs that will need new sources of funding after the federal aid runs dry.
“We should focus this limited federal funding to investments that are needed today,” Smiley said.
The Kennedy Plaza pavilion is expected to be self-sustaining after it’s built, with revenue from food and drink sales, rent, and events paying for operations and maintenance by a private vendor.
Elorza openly acknowledged that his sweeping vision to remake the plaza, most of which has not been designed or funded, “will undoubtedly evolve and be shaped by not only the next mayor but by administrations thereafter as well,” according to an emailed statement.
However, Elorza also stated his desire to see the area reinvented as a kind of Central Park for Providence and a “city and statewide destination.”
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
Smiley is one 100% in target with his position on Elorza’s project the timing for which makes no sense at all.
I generally do not view Elorza in a favorable light and support Smiley, but on this issue I’m turned off by Smiley’s trite comments and his lack of an overall vision for the city’s main downtown plaza. To say that the city cannot do both projects at the same time shows he has no understanding that time is money and that a project that enhances Providence as a beautiful, welcoming, walkable city should not be delayed because of some archaic belief our ducks have to align perfectly before proceeding. Smiley comes off here as button downed Brooks Brothers traditionalist rather than showing strong competence on things big and small and lacking in boldness and vision. Sadly, Providence needs so much more.
I am a fan of neither Jorge or Brett, but I agree with Brett entirely on this one. Wasting $7 million on a food and beverage pavilion is totally insane, especially when PVD has more pressing needs. I attended a meeting where the various plans for the pavilion were presented and had absolutely no faith that the presenters even remotely had knew what they were talking about. It’s as if Jorge said to the presenters, “Here’s $7 million, figure out a way to spend it.”. (BTW I spent 40 years working in the Superman and 50 Kennedy Plaza Buildings and a food pavilion would have been great 40 – 50 years ago, but it isn’t going to save Kennedy Plaza now).