This Thursday, Oct 20, the SNA will hold a special public board meeting focused on what needs to happen to make North Main street an asset to our neighborhood again. We will meet at Javaspeed Scooters, 1184 North Main Street with discussion of North Main Street issues beginning at 7:30.
We will have guests from the Procaccianti Group, which now owns and plans to redevelop the site of the former Sears building. We will also have Lt. David Schiavulli our District 8 Police Commander, representatives from the Mayor’s office, from the Department of Planning and Development and some students working with DPD on planning issues for North Main.
Fifteen years ago, we had a major department store, an auto dealer, a bowling alley, a men’s clothing store and a larger jewelry/appliance store among other useful retail outlets between Smithfield Ave. and the Pawtucket line. Today, we enjoy none of those services (we did gain auto parts and repair at Pep Boys) and the street’s decline has attracted massage parlors and pawn shops.
The purpose of the meeting is to find out what all of us can do to speed up and guide a turnaround on North Main, whether we are addressing crime control, economic incentives, zoning or streetscape. Please come.
