The Jewel of New England A 20 Year Master Plan to Transform the Providence City Center

1. The Jewel of New EnglandA 20 Year Master Plan to Transform the Providence City Center “While with an eye made quiet by the power of harmony and the deep power of joy we see within the life of things” William Wordsworth Community Development Solutions Dominique Gregoire March 2012

2. Community Development Solutions Community Development Solutions is a small team assembled to develop and manage the Master Plan Dominique Gregoire is a Graduate of Sciences Po-Paris and the Paris Faculty of Law and managed the development of a New City in France for 14 years. In the United States he served as Director of Housing in the Governor’s Office from 1987 to 1991 and then as Director of Lending for the Providence Plan Housing Corporation from 1991 to 1997. Since then he has worked mostly in Providence as a Senior Mortgage Loan Officer for Mortgage Master. He lives in Providence with his wife Donna. He designed the Master Plan. Mark Roderick is a graduate of Roger Williams University School of Architecture and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture. He assisted in the building of the model. He lives in Providence with his wife and son. Flavien Collet is a graduate of the Paris-Sorbonne University, and the designer the web site for the project. He has lived in Newton, MA for the past 8 years. Marie Cueffis a graduate of the Institute of Technology in Rennes, Brittany. She holds a degree in building construction and design and worked with the Normandy region as a manager of harbor maintenance along the coast of Calvados. She is a volunteer who created the design of the 3D model and help with the organization.

3. Why A Master Plan? - The Master Plan is an INTEGRATED , COMPREHENSIVE approach to the design of the city center. Many valuable efforts and studies conducted along the years by various groups and entities did not present a physical representation of the whole. - The Master Plan was the result of an assessment of the current situation of the City and its center which resulted in the finding that for the design of the City Center “everything should be on the table”. One could not be hampered by the dire financial situation of the City or past zoning, planning or architectural decisions. - The Master Plan takes into account some of the ideas featured in past studies and elements from other cities around the world to create positive results and an original proposal while building on the City’s specificity. - This Master Plan was also born from the “once in a century” opportunity the City has to utilize the I 195 surplus land to integrate it with the rest of the existing urban fabric in a united wider center. - This Master Plan creates the links between all the positive elements that have been created during the past 30 years to give birth to a unified, modern and vibrant city center. - The creation of an integrated City Center is not counter to the need for a knowledge economy. All aspects of the project: quality of design, integration of the historic urban fabric, economic success, real estate profitability are not mutually exclusive. They reinforce each other. - By its mere existence, the Master Plan, with the support of the Community will create the enthusiasm necessary to leverage public and private dollars.

4. The Vision This is a major endeavor : we are building our heritage . • The Master Plan offers a long term vision, 20 years, with clear geographical limits and clear goals in terms of numbers: population, housing units, square feet of office space, parking spaces, infrastructure, street car lines, shops… • The extension of the Airport runway, the future of High Speed Rail in the Northeast corridor will make it possible for Providence to play a bigger role in the region, nationally and internationally. • Form must follow function in urban design just like in architecture. The Master Plan takes into account the climate, the presence of a major body of water, the need to create large and safe communal places to congregate, the need to provide for a diversity of uses to bring people together to work, live, shop and play. • A public vision not serving any specific interests. The public re-appropriates the urban space. We link the present with the past and the future. A large public investment on public land. • A cultural vision. The Master Plan creates new cultural venues where visual enjoyment, entertainment and the creation or re-creation of major works will celebrate the “heritage of the world’s nobility” (Andre Malraux) • A symbolic vision. The Master Plan must offer the world a few strong images, structures and monuments that will become the public symbols of the city not only in Rhode-Island, in the United States but internationally. • An economic vision. The availability of a large amount of undeveloped land, abandoned buildings, surface parking lots gives the unique opportunity to develop new economic and housing initiatives that will propel Providence into a new era of prosperity and communal life.

5. THE HISTORY OF A COMMUNITY AND THE NAMING OF PLACES • The “Jewel of New England”. A reminder of our common history when Providence was the capital of the jewelry industry. Summons us to excellence in design. Conjures a look towards a better future. A message of beauty to the world which can be used as a vector for a powerful marketing campaign and be understood anywhere. It is physically expressed by a 90 foot glass and metal sculpture: The Jewel. • The “Bridge of Beauty” the blended tradition of covered bridges in the United States shops on bridges in Florence, Venice, le Pont Au Change or Chenonceau in France. • The “Chapel on the River” an ecumenical place of recollection in the sunset • The “Village at the Cathedral” a reminder of the medieval squares • “Arcade on the Square” a meeting place similar to Quincy Market • Claiborne Pell Avenue in the knowledge district a nod to the creator of Pell Grants • John Pastore Avenue “I don’t wear my ethnicity on my sleeve but I need to remember where I come from to know where I am going” a nod to a powerful orator. • John Chafee Promenade on the water for the Secretary of the Navy and defender of the environment • Bruce Sundlun Cultural Center to the savior of the Credit Union crisis and of PPAC

6. A Community in ProgressThe Assessment • A lot has been accomplished during the past 40 years. Many of the elements of success are present. They can be united in a harmonious and vibrant compact. • The goal is to build on this success and to create a center for a city of 250000 in 2040 as it was in 1940. The capital of South Eastern New England, a region of 2 million people within a 40 minute drive…but we had to think of the negative aspects… • A disunited city: the I 95 Gash • A disunited downtown: the jewelry district, the knowledge district, the capital center district, the financial district • No Parking or too much parking • Kennedy Bus Central • No modern public transportation • No shops for daily needs • The harmony deficit • Not enough residential units

7. A Community in search of UnityThe Ten Elements of a United City Center • Claiborne Pell Avenue replaces Dorrance Street from City Hall to The Sundlun Cultural Center and becomes our own Newbury Street or Champs Elysees. • John Pastore Avenue a continuation of Orange Street • John Chafee Promenade along the waterfront • New Kennedy Esplanade: 4 parking garages; the Transportation Hub; the Downtown Circulator; Arcade on the Square; Esplanade merged with Burnside Park. • George Washington Greenway a playground for all, a pedestrian avenue with a carousel, a gazebo, Trinity, Lupos, AS 220 and more+ new residential buildings on both sides. • Covered Walkways: Westminster and Peck Street. Covered galleries reminiscent of the Italian Galleries in Milan, Genoa and Florence as well as the covered markets in the middle eastern cities (Marrackech, Jerusalem…), or the underground space in Montreal. • Coverage of I 95. 2320 feet of covered highway to reclaim the land located on both sides and reunite the 2 sides of the city. Create a central parkway (see picture in right corner) • New Street car system: three lines that converge to Kennedy Esplanade Hub and serve the outlying communities. • The covered Bridge of Beauty: will connect the East Side and the West Side of the River and will create a fabulous tourist destination unique in the country. When all is completed a network of pedestrian walkways from covered bridge to the Mall

8. A Community in Search of Harmonyand the Three Villages • Harmony will be a critical element of the success of this Master Plan. • Design of the buildings must be reminiscent of the rest of the city urban landscape • Use the traditional materials of New England: brick, limestone, glass, wood, metal (see examples of traditional and modern buildings which have used that combination successfully in Providence). • The center piece of the entire project is the Sundlun Cultural Center (ex-Heritage Harbor or Dynamo Building) which should direct the architectural design of all buildings along Claiborne Pell, John Pastore Avenues and Chafee Promenade. • Height of buildings to be dimensioned with the width of avenues and streets. • Most buildings to have shops on the first floor. Archways along Pell and Pastore Avenue. Shops on first floor of parking garages. • Canals, fountains and reflecting pools

9. A Community in Search of Harmony(continued) • Harmonious choice of trees: American red oak to line main avenues, same species necessary Pink dogwood by the Park on the River (blooms 3 weeks in May, tourists…) • Sidewalks: bricks… • Underground utility lines using the street car tunnels • Gates and Works of Art along Washington Greenway, Kennedy Esplanade, Chafee Promenade, Garden at Sundlun Cultural Center • Underground Parking to eliminate surface parking lots • The three villages: CATHEDRAL VILLAGE: demolition of central part of Diocese building including Mc Vinney Auditorium, public underground parking under the main square, slanted roofs new residential and office buildings, keep the trees on the northern side of the square, new auditorium in the center. GREEN VILLAGE and three wind turbines creation of a central square. VILLAGE BY THE RIVER on the east Side of the project, a park, office buildings with slanted roofs to create a common feeling with existing buildings, chapel by the river, Park with pink dogwood for attraction in the Spring.

10. A Creative Community through Density • Critical mass necessary, high concentration, diversity of uses. RE-CENTER the city and the state, bring back people, businesses, money that have left during the last 40 years of scattering to the suburbs. • Agglomeration and clustering have a positive impact on innovation by the spillovers generated by face to face contact of innovators. • Extend the Knowledge District (Harbor, West of I 95, 111 Westminster…). • High Density = high tax revenue. Increase population and tax base. Objective: 250000 in 2040 (now 178,500). Population is insufficient. • Parks do not create life nor money. We need parks with a meaning. Shift parks to the cultural center and the core downtown(Kennedy Esplanade, Washington Greenway)… • Public or private parking garages above ground and underground are sorely needed. CREATE A PROVIDENCE PARKING AUTHORITY IMMEDIATELY. • Find a financial incentive solution for the “re-use” of surface parkings (tax credits?). • Density, mixed use, mixed income should be the master words of this project. • New Offices: 8,750,000 square feet • New residential units: 3500 • New shops: 120 • New parks and pedestrian spaces: 21.81 acres.

11. A Community on the Move • The Street Car System • The Red Line – 8.5 miles – 1 mile underground – Cranston Line to port to hospitals to Pawtucket via Waterman Tunnel and the East Side • The Blue Line – 8 miles - .30 miles underground – Roger Williams Park to Elmwood to Broad to Weybosset to Train Station to East Side and Worcester/Providence abandoned tunnel and bridge to East Providence Seekonk River waterfront. • The Green Line – 12 miles - .80 miles underground – Olneyville/Mount Pleasant to Broadway, to Train Station and Mall, to North End and North Providence line. • In the core center of the city the street cars travel underground to the Transportation Hub which is the central platform for buses and street cars and provides a protected environment for passengers. It is connected to the existing comfort station. • The system could use the Bordeaux electrical system with no overhead wires in sensitive areas electricity provided by a third rail activated as the train moves along. • Total cost estimated at $800 million. 2. Public garages: 4100 spaces at a total cost estimated at $185 million. See the positive example of Post Office Square in Boston. 3. Creation of the Downtown Circulator: car traffic eliminated from crossing Kennedy Esplanade which becomes entirely pedestrian.

12. A Green CommunityParks, Covered Walkways and the Bridge Of Beauty • More or less parks: a false issue. The need for pedestrian and green space with a meaning, quality parks more important than quantity parks. • Eliminate the 2 large parks created by the DOT proposal. In our difficult climate for 6 months of the year parks are not utilized. Design cannot follow sewer lines regardless of cost it is the other way around! • Parks are shifted to the foot of the Sundlun Cultural Center, the Chapel on the River, a large promenade is created on the Waterfront. • The creation of the George Washington Greenway and the new Kennedy Esplanade brings the parks back right in the middle of the City. See design of Rose Kennedy Greenway as an example in Boston. • The Waterfront: “Today it is not possible to eat a clam chowder on the Waterfront in Providence”. THAT HAS TO CHANGE! It is imperative to take advantage of the presence of the Providence River to create a lively Waterfront with shops, cafes and restaurants where people will congregate on small squares, under cover. Boats will bring people at various stops and disembark at the Sundlun Cultural Center under the glass canopy of a large landing.

13. A Green Community (continued) • Covered Walkways: the proposed walkways would be built in stages along the narrow streets: Westminster and Peck. It would create a continuum of protected pedestrian space from the Bridge of Beauty to the Providence Place Mall. • Why covered walkways? Because of the climate. See Montreal, Milan, Genoa, Florence, Paris Disneyland have all created large covered spaces for their visitors to protect them from cold or heat. • Why covered walkways? To attract tourism regionally, nationally and internationally. See success of Quincy market. Lease just sold for $136 million by BRA. • Why covered walkways? Business. Farmers Market (see success of Farmers Market at Hope Artists Village in Pawtucket), pushcarts (rented for $3,500 per month at Quincy Market), will create micro business and bring a lot of clients to the shops on those streets. Let a thousand vendors bloom! • How? The street could be covered with a glass and steel structure following the Guimard Art Deco metro stations style in Paris (original design still available). Garages necessary on the path. Accessible to emergency vehicles. Trees to be protected as much as feasible.

14. A Green Community (continued) • Kennedy Esplanade. Car traffic rerouted Transportation HUB. Public Garage underground for 450 cars. Arcade on the Square Reflecting pool • The Chapel Park • Arcade at Westminster, Arcade on the Square, Bank of America, Building behind Turks Head would be all connected. Magnificent Art Deco hall of Bank Of America to become luxury shopping center. • Covering I 95 – wide park on each side and new buildings; amount of land made available approximately 8 acres; creation of a central parkway to serve adjacent streets. • The Bridge of Beauty. 450 feet. 12’ walkway on North Side; 12’ bike path on South side; 15’ walkway in the center; 30 shops on each side of the walkway 15’ wide and 20, 30 or 40 ‘ long. Use existing piles. Style to mirror Crawford Bridge to be consistent with the rest of city river bridges.

15. A Community with a SoulArts, Culture and the Chapel • The Bruce Sundlun Cultural Center is the center piece of the entire project. The architectural focal point and the final destination of Claiborne Pell Avenue, the main avenue of the City Center. At night from South Water St. like a ship anchored in the Harbor with its sister at the National Grid plant A fountain and a monumental gate at the northern access to the park at the foot of the building. National Grid to relocate substation to the South of Point Street. An underground parking garage on the Northern and Southern side of the building. The Center as a “Cultural mall” similar to Pompidou Center in Paris, international appeal, partnership with International Museum (Uffizi, Orsay). A uniting place for all Americans. The public emblem of our Knowledge Industry. A public library, an art museum, cinemas, Children’s Museum, gathering and lecture rooms, shops, restaurants. Outdoor: an antique theater with its stage wall using the blind north wall of the building, statues and names of American playwrights and writers; a boat landing with a large glass canopy evokes a boat, the park is connected to the Chafee Promenade. • The Home of the International Film Festival in the 2 “electric” buildings at Clifford. • Davol Square becomes an Arts and Technology Mayoral Academy. • The Chapel on the River, spiritual simplicity of design, an ecumenical place for people to congregate at sunset, for weddings, to pray and recollect. • The New McVinney Auditorium with 500/600 seats in the middle of Cathedral Village could be decvoted to Children’s Theater and operated by the Children’s Museum.

16. A Community Open for Business, Micro, Small Business, Tourism and the Little White Train • The Knowledge Industry: hospitals, laboratories, colleges, research, offices could be developed throughout the city center. • New runway at Green, High Speed rail, creation of new cultural venues will bring Tourism, new hotels, Water Fire and venetian fests, jousts on the river, theater festival (Trinity, Second Story, Gamm…), organ music festival (beautiful organs throughout the city…) • Small and micro businesses organized in clusters: antiques and art galleries at Cathedral Village, push carts at the covered walkways, beauty related business on the covered bridge, cafes and restaurants at the Waterfront…) • Marketing: conduct a marketing study to determine the demand for residential units. Launch an regional, national, international promotional campaign around the “Jewel” theme.

17. A Challenge to the CommunityFeasibility, Management and the Sub-station • The cost : estimated at $1.5 billion in today’s dollars. • The potential sources of funds: Sale of land at market value (approximately $80.00/$100.00 per square foot today). Sale of assets (Public Library and Hope High School to fund the Sundlun Center; creation of a Rhode Island Cultural Partnership to raise money for the center, Columbus Theater, Castle Cinema, International Film Festival). City Bonds State Bonds Federal Government RIPTA Revenue Bonds Cities for street cars Providence Parking Authority Revenue Bonds Private Colleges Foundations • Real Estate Tax Revenue: $49 million per year 3500 residential units at $3,500 each = $12,250,000.00 8,750,000 square feet of office at current rate and assessment = $35,679,875.00 120 shops at $8,000.00 each = $960,000.00 • National Grid needs to exercise civic spirit to facilitate the project

18. NEW BUILDING, CLASSIC DESIGN, TRADITIONAL MATERIALS Office Building on Route 146

19. Italianate style using traditional materials North Main Street

20. Classic Design, Traditional Materials On South Main Street

21. Classic Design, Traditional Materials On South Main Street

22. Modern Building, Classic Design, Traditional Materials Condominium at the foot of Angell Street

23. Model for the Bridge of Beauty College Street Bridge

24. Model for the Bridge of Beauty Crawford Street Bridge

25. Classic Design, Traditional Materials South Main Street