Planning & Development
Drive In?
The first sign of a pulse at the Park Cinema came in August with the opening of the Park Café and the 848 Club along the facade of the renovated structure. The Park Avenue landmark, built in 1924 by theater mogul Abraham A. Spitz, is emerging from a 5-year, and at times controversial, renovation process.
The completion of the project will provide the Auburn, Eden Park and Stadium neighborhoods with a theater within walking distance. It’s unclear what kind of effect the theater will have on Rolfe Square, but it can’t be anything but positive.
With the café only a coffee break away from city hall and the school administration building, the potential is there for success.
The theater’s completion will be punctuated by the topping of the bulb-studded “Park” sign that was dismantled during construction.
Comment
Wednesday May 12, 2010
Thee Euston-Fairweather Registry of Hyper Links: Trashing the New Comp Plan Edition
This edition of the Registry offers a short collection of projects from Cranston’s ugly development front. All of these developments required numerous zoning variances and comp plan amendments, all of them are out of character with their respective locales, and all of them will benefit their developers at the expense of Cranston’s residents, its character, environmental well-being, and fiscal health.
moreMonday May 3, 2010
Losing the War on Drugstores
After about a 15 month flatline, it looks like the Cranston Recklessly Approved Project index (the city’s leading economic indicator), is on the rise again. We can all rejoice that developers are back at work – looking for ways to get variances and cut corners on the road to grabbing... more
Monday January 11, 2010
Skip the Bag, Save the River
On Tuesday, January 12 at 7pm, the City Planning Commission will consider the Stop & Shop proposal slated for the Warwick Nurseries property. One of the concessions that the neighborhood was looking for was a moratorium on plastic bags. It’s a great idea, and I have to admit I’m anti-disposable... more
Monday November 23, 2009
Fixing Rolfe Square: Pimp Your Storefront Edition
Ruth’s Lingerie storefront during a sale last year Things are starting to look up for Rolfe Square. Soon they will be looking fabulous. The Artists’ Exchange has teamed up with students from Rhode Island School of Design to redesign six storefronts. Artists’ Exchange Director Elaine McKenna-Yeaw says “the idea is to... more
Saturday October 24, 2009
The Park Cinema Reopens for a Sequel
At 5 PM last night, the Park Cinema officially re-opened as the Rhode Island Center for Performing Arts. Rolfe Square took on a completely different feeling when the theater was illuminated and pods of people spilled out onto the neighboring streets. It was especially striking to see the Park sign... more
Josh:
I’m very happy to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel for the rebirth of the Park Cinema. Those of us who have been around Cranston long enough remember midnight “Rocky Horror Picture Show” performances in the waning months of its last iteration (this was after the Meadowbrook Cinema in Warwick had closed to make way for a CVS and Stop&Shop plaza).
The “old” Park closed in early 1999.
It’s been a long 10 years.
— Jesse from Cranston · Oct 5, 06:00 PM · #