Planning & Development
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 utilize beautiful, existing historic storefront windows to promote these businesses, using design that creates a ‘wow’ factor. The goal is for the window displays to change each semester, giving Rolfe Square the ‘something to see’ reputation.” Yeaw is confident that interesting art pieces and displays will help to revitalize historic Rolfe Square, while giving RISD students practical experience with project development from concept to installation.
The storefront window redesigns mark the first of many plans that Yeaw and the Artists’ Exchange hope to put into motion in Rolfe Square.
The windows will be unveiled on December 5 at 11am. Cooperating businesses include Ruth’s Lingerie, Park Senate Barber Salon, Betty’s Candies, Cranston Chamber of Commerce, Artists’ Exchange and Citizens’ Bank.
Previously:
Fixing Rolfe Square: Intro
Fixing Rolfe Square: The Corner[where: 02910]
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
You are kidding, right? Perhaps if they PAVED Rolfe Street, you could park at ample lots next to bank and post office. Both these crucial anchors are leased so they can bail out. Hardware store remains out of sheer obstinacy; breaks to big box stores have wiped out almost all local hardware stores who still must pay inventory taxes. They should revive the merchants association, but is there any point? I say, “Save Rolfe Square”, one of RI’s few true villages remaining, a place you don’t need a car to visit.
— Labann · May 4, 11:21 AM · #