PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Commerce Corp. will distribute 43 direct support grants to large arts organizations and hotels that suffered substantial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, totaling $8.7 million.
The awards, announced Dec. 17, will be distributed among all applicants that met the requirements of the program, according to Matt Sheaff, a spokesman for the state agency.
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R.I. Commerce received a few more applications for the Rhode Island HArT Grant Program, he said, but they either didn’t have the required percentage loss or they were otherwise ineligible.
To receive the direct support, an arts or cultural institution had to have lost at least half of its operating revenue for the second and third quarters, and had a budget of at least $150,000.
Hotels had to have at least 200 rooms and have lost second and third quarter revenue of 70% or more.
The size of the hotels eligible for direct support limited that program to about a dozen properties in Rhode Island, which had drawn criticism from some state legislators for being too narrow of a scope, and shutting out most hotels in the state.
Sheaff said the rationale was aimed at keeping available the large hotel spaces that qualify Providence, in particular, for large conventions, which require an adequate number of hotel rooms.
“Our convention business has been hit significantly,” Sheaff said. “The large hotels are one of the selling factors that Rhode Island, when we pitch for large conventions to come here, has to demonstrate [that we have sufficient] number of rooms.”
Only hotels that were committed to remaining open through April 1, 2021 were considered for awards.
Among the biggest hotel recipients were Providence Marriott Downtown, which was awarded $1 million; Renaissance Providence Hotel, awarded $928,824; Hilton Providence, which will receive $910,716; and Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick Hotel, which will receive $755,867.
The state’s largest hotel, The Omni Providence Hotel, did not apply for the awards. It remains closed.
The arts organizations which received direct support included large awards to two recipients: Providence Performing Arts Center and the Preservation Society of Newport County, each of which will receive $600,000.
The award is welcome, said Preservation Society CEO and President, Trudy Coxe, but it remains a fraction of the losses incurred by the organization, which owns and maintains the Newport Mansions. The organization lost $7 million in revenue between April and September, she said. “Of course we’re very pleased. $600,000 is a lot of money,” she said Tuesday. “But so is $7 million.”
Other arts and cultural organizations that received more than $200,000 as part of the state program included WaterFire Providence, which was awarded $256,833; Greater Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, $249,580; Discover Newport, $249,580; Strand Entertainment, $246,509; AS220, $235,192; and Stadium Theatre Foundation, $227,972.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at MacDonald@PBN.com.
