David Sorafine makes a good point.
Sorafine has worked at Downtown Radiator in the heart of Smith Hill for 25 years. For the last five, he has looked across the street at a blighted parcel – the vacant Valueland Supermarket and its adjacent parking lot.
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The rumor going around Smith Hill is that nearby Providence College wants to buy the property, possibly to use it for soccer fields. Sorafine likes the idea. Perhaps, he said, with bleachers in place, it would bring more visitors to the area and boost to some degree the area’s economic climate. At the very least, the plush green grass of a soccer field would be an improvement over a boarded market.
City officials don’t like the idea of Providence College buying the property. They make a good case. The school is tax exempt. The property is valued at $1 million.
“The asking price is over $1 million (for this lot),” said Providence City Councilman Terrence Hassett, “and we believe that it should stay on the tax roles and have the kind of private investment that is intended by the zoning designation.”
The city’s planning office is also against the school buying the property. It is zoned for commercial use and that’s what belongs there, is the city’s position.
There is also a very real concern for the neighborhood. Residents there would welcome with open arms another grocery store, a pharmacy or a bank.
But it has been five years and a commercial buyer has yet to come forward – at least not seriously. The property looks terrible and isn’t doing the city or the neighborhood much good in its present condition.
A Providence College soccer field might not be a bad idea. Aesthetically, it would be a big plus and it would cause the school to have a legitimate stake in the immediate surroundings.
