SNA Admin

Mayor, Council members invite neighborhood to planning week Sept. 24-28

The three very different neighborhoods of Summit, Mt. Hope and Blackstone will come together from Monday, Sept. 24 through Thursday, Sept. 28 to discuss our common needs and make a plan for neighborhood preservation and improvement.

Mayor David N. Cicilline, City Councilman Kevin Jackson and City Councilman Cliff Wood released an invitation to all residents and business owners in the neighborhoods over the weekend.

Twelve daytime sessions on specific topics will be held mornings and afternoons on Monday through Wednesday at Church of the Redeemer, 655 Hope Street.

Evening sessions, at Martin Luther King Elementary, 35 Camp Street, will work toward creating one plan that captures neighborhood priorities and guides the city’s public investments and its influence over private investments in our neighborhood.

Background information and additional details may be found at DPD’s Providence Tomorrow web site.

SNA has made sure that North Main Street will receive dedicated attention at a session on Wednesday afternoon from 1PM to 4PM at the Church of the Redeemer. Here’s the complete schedule: (more…)

By SNA Admin, ago

SNA Board meeting Monday, Sept. 17

The Summit Neighborhood Association board will hold it’s monthly meeting on Monday, Sept. 17 at 7PM in the Community Room at the Rochambeau Library. The public is welcome to attend.
Agenda items will include:

Participation in the city’s three-neighborhood planning process for Summit, Mt. Hope and Blackstone the week of Sept. 24 through 29.

Update on the North Main Street project.

Key board and volunteer positions to be recruited.

If you have a matter you want raised at this meeting, please call Jonathan Howard at 331-2272 in advance.

By SNA Admin, ago

New Hillside owners meet neighbors

Executives of Radius Management Group met with residents of Hillside and Chace Avenues on August 21 to clarify the present status of the property and share their future plans for working with neighbors. Briefly, Radius won the auction for the bankrupt property, but will not formally close until they are assured of approval to re-open the facility as a nursing home, their main business. They expect a decision by October. We will pass on any future meeting dates as we learn of them. 

John Smithers, the point person for neighbors on this matter over the last year or more, provided these notes on the meeting from Radius executive Chritine Bassett. (more…)

By SNA Admin, ago

North Main Project moving toward a vision

Public meeting on North Main Street’s future Wednesday, July 11 at 7PM at Sandwich Hut, 1253 North Main Street – please join us.

Volunteers with the SNA North Main Street have been busy reaching out to stakeholders over the last few months, gathering information, ideas and input that our consultant, Gates, Leighton and Associates, can incorporate in their plans and drawings of a future North Main Street.

Join us on July 11 to talk with Randy Collins of GLA about his plans for first draft drawings. We will meet again on July 25 and August 8 to review the drawings as they evolve.

We are very pleased that Ray Watson, Executive Director of Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association and Chris Lopes, President of the Mt. Hope Board, have joined our steering committee for this project. Any new development must help to address the needs of Mt. Hope residents, including affordable housing, new employment and outdoor recreation.
Over the last two months, we’ve had conversations with Chief Operating Officer Sandra Coletta of Miriam Hospital, with Alix Ogden, Supertendent of the Parks Department, with the board and leadership of Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association, with Carla DeStefano of the nonprofit housing development group SWAP, with Steven Lewinstein, co-owner and developer of the former Sears/Anderson Little site. We’ve held a meeting of business owners at the Penalty Box and we’ve attended the Mt. Hope Greenup. Two weeks ago we had a very productive talk with Director of Planning and Development Thom Deller and our planner for Summit and Mt. Hope, Bonnie Nickerson.

By SNA Admin, ago

Next SNA Board meeting July 16 – East Coast Greenway Project

Summit Neighborhood Association’s next public board meeting will be held Monday, July 16 at 7PM in the Community Room downstairs at the Rochambeau Branch of the Providence Public Library, 708 Hope Street.

Eric Weiss RI organizer of the East Coast Greenway Project will join us to talk about the future of bike routes on the East Side, including his proposal to make Blackstone Boulevard bike and pedestrian friendly. Blackstone will be the planned route connecting the Pawtucket end of the Lincoln Bike Path to India Point and the East Bay Bike Path.
Eric will also talk about the potential for bike lanes and off-road greenways along the North Main and Moshassuck River corridors. The Moshassuck, which runs through North Burial Ground and along Rt. 95 was the actual path of the old Blackstone Canal which the Lincoln path follows for most of its length.

For more information, or to request time on the agenda, please call Jonathan Howard 331.2272.

By SNA Admin, ago

Hillside bought for nursing home use

On June 13, Radius Management Services purchased the former Hillside Nursing Center at 99 Hillside Avenue at a bankruptcy auction held by the court. Their offer is conditional on reviving the facility’s license to operate as a nursing home. The former nursing home was closed by the RI Dept of Health in early 2005. There were informal indications that the DOH would approve the re-licensing as a nursing home, according to neighbors who attended the auction.

This development is cautiously welcomed by neighbors who have been monitoring the complicated and drawn-out disposal of the property. Most people living nearby would prefer a re-opened nursing home to the most likely alternatives such as residential development or assisted living.

A small group of neighbors coordinated by John Smithers has been in touch with Radius and hopes to meet with executives in August. At this stage, the neighbors’ group wants to learn more about Radius’ plans for renovation or construction. They are also looking ahead to how operations will affect surrounding homes and streets. If you have questions or concerns you would like John to convey to Radius, or if you would like to be kept informed, please e-mail John Smithers at John.Smither@jwu.edu.

By SNA Admin, ago

City pushes Summit charrette back to fall

The City of Providence informed SNA last week that a neighborhood planning “charrette” for the Summit, Mt. Hope and Blackstone areas of the East Side will be postponed to September rather than being held in June as previously announced by the Dept. of Planning and Development.
The charrette for our neighborhood is now (and still “tentatively”) scheduled for Sept. 24 through 28 with a follow-up meeting on Nov. 14. For updates, check with SNA or with the city Planning Department web site: ProvidenceTomorrow.org.

By SNA Admin, ago

Free trees – request by June 15

The Providence Neighborhood Planting Program has pushed its deadline to request free street trees for the fall planting season back two weeks to June 15. Any group of 5 or more neighbors may apply for up to 20 trees for planting between the sidewalk and the street. PNPP delivers the trees. The applying neighbors help plant them and agree to water and care for the trees.

Trees help cool your home and the entire street and add to the market value of a house. They also remove planet-warming carbon from the air and reduce storm water pollution of Narragansett Bay in heavy rains.

For an application, visit the Providence Neighborhood Planting Program web site: pnpp.org or e-mail Nina Ridhibhinyo at street_trees@pnpp.org.
By SNA Admin, ago