The Gravity Games were a fun ride and they brought our capital city some terrific national exposure over the last three summers. But we certainly do not view the fact that organizers of the games are now taking their show to Cleveland as bad news for Providence.
Providence essentially lost the privilege of hosting the summer event because one of the main venues that has been used as a competition site – a vacant parcel of land between Waterplace Park and Providence Place – is about to be developed.
That project – Nine Waterplace – represents real economic development. It represents jobs and commerce. Nine Waterplace, to be located at the intersection of Francis Street and Memorial Boulevard, is expected to contain 220,000 square feet of office space, 50,000 square feet of retail space and parking for 500 cars.
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According to the developers, 65 percent of the space in the proposed building is leased. Construction is expected to begin this spring, with a targeted completion date of early 2004. Groundbreaking was initially planned for November of 2001, and then pushed off until last month. It still has not taken place, but a spokesperson for Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. told us last week that a groundbreaking is expected soon and that the project remains on schedule.
The Gravity Games have been an exciting stopgap event. For a couple of weeks each summer they added a different kind of spark to the city and helped us forget that there was still prime downtown real estate just begging to be developed.
NBC television did a great job covering the events. Providence always came off as a beautiful city. They certainly did not hurt our tourism industry in the eyes of meeting planners.
But the games did not come cheap.
There was much work to be done to prepare for them. And there were the very real costs of police overtime while they were in progress. Traffic was more congested than usual. Restaurant owners never really saw an onslaught of business from the predominately young Gravity Games audience.
It was fun while it lasted. Cleveland can now enjoy the show. And we can get on with some serious economic development.
