Rehabbing ‘The Dunk’

We are pleased to see that the Providence Foundation, a private sector, not-for-profit collection of leading companies and institutions, has included in its 2003-2003 work plan, an effort to encourage city and state officials and major users to develop a modernization and expansion proposal for the aging facility.

As Providence begins to re-start its renaissance, the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, along with the development of hotels and public parking garages, should be tapped as a priority initiative. A year ago, the city brokered a “naming rights” deal with Dunkin’ Donuts estimated to bring the city between $7 million and $8 million per year. That money should help to secure the building’s short-term future.

But for the long-term, the Dunkin’ Donuts Center needs serious work. That work should include some kind of luxury boxes or suites to help boost revenues and increased seating so that Providence can draw larger sporting events, such as NCAA basketball championships.

HOK/Sport, the company that recently oversaw the construction of the beautiful Ryan Center on the University of Rhode Island’s Kingston campus, has provided drawings of a renovated Dunkin’ Donuts Center to the city.

One version shows about 1,500 new seats – including 18 skyboxes – and a walkway connecting the building to the Holiday Inn.

With a renewed sense of cooperation now at play between city and state officials, we hope that the coming months will bring some progress to discussion on what kinds of financing proposals would be viable. It is obvious that the city will not take on this financial burden alone. Nor should it.

The state and the city should see a refurbished Dunkin’ Donuts Center as a real economic development opportunity.

Why not take further the proposed connecting by skybridge of the nearby Holiday Inn and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center? Why not consider connecting the Dunkin’ Donuts Center to the Rhode Island Convention Center as well?

The Rhode Island Convention Center Authority and the city would have to work to ensure the two buildings are complementing – not competing – against one another. But it can be done. And marketing the facilities in tandem, coupled with what we hope will be the arrival of several hundred additional hotel rooms in the city in the near future, should provide a real boost to the city’s tourism industry.

Legislative leaders smartly invested about $16 million several years ago to refurbish and dramatically expand McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, the home of the Pawtucket Red Sox.

Judging by the record-setting crowds that file through the gates there, that was indeed money well spent. Had the state not made that investment, the PawSox would be playing somewhere else by now and the negative economic impact on the city of Pawtucket, as well as the state, would have been significant.

Remember that sporting events, concerts and ice shows are important economic generators. We need more of them.