Give credit to Stanley Weiss. His patience in developing Robert E.
Freeman Park across from historic Grace Church at Westminster and
Mathewson Streets just might pay off.
It was nearly a decade ago that Weiss began planning the reclamation of
the park and buildings surrounding it. Weiss invested his money. And
then he waited. Weiss waited for the right tenants. In recent years he
was approached by fast-food operations, but rejected those offers,
determined to see his dream of establishing a bed and breakfast.
He was committed to a “higher purpose,” said architect Michael Abbott.
Weiss recently signed a lease with a prominent coffee roaster, Ed Field,
former president of Autocrat, Inc., who plans to open a gourmet coffee
shop. Talks with a jazz club proprietor and designs for an urban bed and
breakfast are under way. Weiss envisions an area similar to the French
Quarter of New Orleans’ – where tourists can take in the beauty of old
Providence on trips to PPAC, Trinity, the Rhode Island Convention
Center, or Providence Place.
French Quarter might be an exaggeration, with one bed and breakfast, one
jazz club and one coffee shop. But it’s no exaggeration to say this type
of development is a welcome addition to the city, and a step toward
extending downtown’s renaissance to the real core of downtown
Providence.
