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Image by Jef Nickerson for gcpvd.org
What Parks/Open Spaces Work:
- Grace Park and Grants Block open space (great places to stop on the streetscape)
- Lippitt Park (neighborhood gathering point and iconic destination)
- Memorial Square (downtown gathering and resting place)
- DePasquale Square (beautiful, walkable neighborhood gathering place and place to stop on streetscape)
- Prospect Park (defining park with stunning views)
- Various athletic fields (have high usage for soccer, basketball, etc)
Image by Jim Rizzo for gcpvd.org
What Parks/Open Spaces Don’t Work:
- Garribaldi Park (terrible location, no uses, nothing to do)
- St John’s Park (terrible location, no uses, nothing to do)
- Station Park (great location, but terrible maintenance, nothing to do, and no focus)
- Burnside Park (another great location, undermaintained, with nothing to do and no focus)
- Kennedy Plaza (poorly designed, deterimental to connectivity and the cityscape, chaotic, unsafe)
- Blackstone Park (currently little more than undeveloped woods, no focus, nothing to do, scary at night)
What we need to fix NOW:
- All parks need a maintenance plan unique for every park and open space that is:
- Transparent and visible on the web
- Hours, programming, and maintenance schedules need to be clear and accountable
- All parks need a “Marshall Plan” for upgrades, including:
- Bigger, better, clearer signage
- An inventory of individual park problems and clear plans for addressing them
- More benches and places to sit
- More trees, landscaping, and attention to detail
- Clear programming designed for each park
- The Lippitt Fountain needs to be fixed/turned on
Image by Jef Nickerson for gcpvd.org
Open Space/Parks Visionary Plans for the Future:
- Consider classifing and organizing our parks by “Destination” locations vs “Enhancement” locations
- Free WiFi needs to be available in all Providence Parks
- Investigate Private/Public Partnerships where appropriate (ex, Station Park or Lippitt Park)
- Push for volunteer “Friends of…” organizations to use public spaces/parks as community building opportunities
- Consider turning Roger Williams Park over to the State of RI
- Have clear strategies for monetizing the public spaces (ex, make it easier to rent public spaces to hold weddings and raise the fees for those events)
- Develop more Winter season programming and amenities (heaters, fire pits, etc) for our parks
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