I have a 1943 picture of Hoxsie Four Corners, just east of T.F. Green
Airport. Not that long ago, this intersection was surrounded by farmland
– with silos, barns and chicken coops dotting the landscape. Now it is
one of the busiest intersections in the state and what was a sleepy
airport at Hillsgrove, is now enjoying unprecedented success.
–Warwick Mayor Lincoln Chafee
The Warwick Station Redevelopment District, an ambitious project
designed to create a new business district and inter-modal
transportation center is expected to move closer to reality at a Warwick
City Council meeting next Monday night.
The project is part of the city’s effort to capitalize on the enormous
success of the new T.F. Green Airport.
The City Council is expected on Dec. 14 to approve for the second and
final time a series of proposals to establish special zoning
designations and create a redevelopment agency. Earlier this fall, the
proposals received first passage by a five to three vote of the City
Council. The second passage – which is expected to carry by the same
five to three vote — would pave the way for the creation of the Warwick
Station Redevelopment District.
The Warwick Station project is being fueled by $25 million in federal
dollars out of the $207 billion Highway Bill to build a new train
station near the airport. Beyond that federal windfall, the project will
be funded by private investors.
A key to the project – besides the soaring popularity of T.F. Green –
will be the construction of the new train station. In May of this year,
the city received $15 million to build a train station by the airport
and $10 million to connect the train station and the airport. The New
York-Boston Amtrak line passes within 1,200 feet of the airport
terminal.
That proximity sets this project apart, according to city officials.
“Nowhere else in this country is there a train station that close to an
airport,” said Carlo E. Pisaturo, Jr., a Democrat on the City Council
who has supported the Warwick Station proposal since its inception.
“They’re not moving the airport to Quonset, as some people had hoped.
And they’re not moving the train tracks. Let’s take advantage of them as
much as we can.”
Alfred A. Gemma, also a Democrat on the City Council, is an outspoken
proponent of the Warwick Station proposal.
Gemma said the project is destined to make Warwick “shine like crazy.”
The trains will help take cars off Warwick’s busy roads, he said, and
the added tax dollars will go a long way toward helping to strengthen
the city’s social service programs. And it only makes sense to
capitalize on the $300 million federal and state investment at T.F.
Green Airport, Gemma said.
“There is no doubt that Warwick Station is going to put Warwick on the
map,” Gemma said. “Warwick has been perceived as a city of malls
because we don’t have a downtown. Warwick will become a ‘big boy’ after
this.”
Warwick Station is expected to include a skywalk, retail shops, office
complexes, a conference center, hotels and parking garages. In the newly
created district, according to preliminary plans, an emphasis will be
placed on maintaining open spaces for walking, artwork and fountains in
a park-like environment.
Jefferson Boulevard will be the primary route for traffic to the new
train station. The center of the proposed business district will be a
ten-block area between the new train station and the airport terminal.
In a mailing to residents detailing the proposal, Warwick Mayor
Lincoln Chafee wrote; “The new train stop will make it even more
convenient for travelers from the stretch between Boston and New Haven
to fly in and out of Green and, beyond that, for business people to
gather from around the country for meetings here in Warwick.”
Larry Kunkel, executive director of the Central Rhode Island Development
Corporation, sees the Warwick Station Redevelopment District as an
unprecedented economic development opportunity. Kunkel suggests that the
project has the potential to spur at least $250 million in private
investment.
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This is an opportunity to capitalize on the success of the airport and
do so in a way that gives us an opportunity to attract significant
investment,” said Kunkel.
With interest rates low, Kunkel believes that now is the time for the
big splash and a project of such magnitude, he said, will impress
developers – and potential investors — across the country. And the zone
changes, which are tailor-made to such development projects – are key to
its success. The proper zoning must be in place, he said, before
recruiting developers.
The zone has to exist so that developers or prospective developers do
not have to go through the laborious and expensive process of getting a
zone change,” Kunkel said.
Kunkel expects the project to be a model for inter-modal transportation
around the country.
This is the way to do comprehensive, high-scale development,” he said.
“We looked closely at the Capital Center model in Providence and have
incorporated some ideas. Why reinvent the wheel?”
Kunkel points to an older roller skating rink as an example of the
impact of the Warwick Station proposal.
The Sholes Roller Skating Rink is coming down – and a Hampton Inn is
going up,” he said. “We’ve already attracted significant investment that
I don’t think would been here without this plan in place.”
Pisaturo believes the proposal is the kind of commercial development
that makes sense.
“This is going to be growth like we have never seen,” he said. “And the
best thing is that we are controlling the development.”
