A Conversation with Pawtucket’s Two Mayoral Candidates

An Evening With Pawtucket

Tuesday, October 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Gamm Theatre (172 Exchange Street)

Join an evening with host Richard Kazarian as he asks incumbent Mayor James Doyle (D) and mayoral candidate Councilor Donald Grebien (I) about critical issues in Pawtucket’s future. Seating is limited. Doors open at 6 p.m. Reservations are not required. Sponsored by PADS, Citizens for the Arts, The Gamm Theatre, and The Pawtucket Times.

New CVS / Old Wounds

Anyone who has driven by the recent CVS construction on Broad Street might not know about the history surrounding this site development or think much of a new pharmacy going into a busy area, but when I look at the new building and the historic building behind it, I see it as a mockery of Pawtucket’s past and an insult to our city.  

Any building built should reflect its time– old buildings remind us of where we’ve been and new buildings should tell us where we are now and maybe even where we hope to go.  The historic buildings we love so much were NEW when they were built, they expressed their time and place. If we only mimic buildings of our past in our new architecture what does that say about us? That we have nothing to contribute and that all we can do is look wistfully back at a mythologized history? 

The new CVS is a disappointment in many ways:
• It blocks the view of the historic station, primarily with an electrical transformer.
• It superficially mimics the facade, but with cheap materials and bad proportions.
• The fake windows on Broad Street are an insult to our active urban environment.
• The entry is not on the street, but rather right into the parking lot.

Our train station was a place full of people, local activity and community ambition connecting it to a larger world. The cheap lookalike next to it is about corporate commerce in a local place and suburban logics in an urban setting.  

We should demand better design. We, as a community, have a variety of cultural and artistic strengths that we should express to tell our story of the time and place in which we live.  

Blogger Posts Candidate Profiles

Definitely worth reading no matter who you’re voting for… one blogger’s take on the candidates in our upcoming local elections -  The Bucket Blog

Apology for Recent Postings

Sorry for all the long posts straight from other sources — we haven’t been very active in awhile and we thought it best just to seed the blog with the facts and leave it up to our readers to comment (we are first and foremost an information clearinghouse after all). Lots of food for thought here now; let the discussions begin!

Pawtucket Open Studios This Weekend

Taken from the RISCA blog — what do people think about that last paragraph on revitalization?

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PAWTUCKET MILL ARTISTS & BUSINESSES
CELEBRATE OPEN STUDIO WEEKENDFriday, September 19,  5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Saturday, September 20, 11:00AM – 7:00 PM
Sunday, September 21, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Over 80 mill artists and businesses at ten locations throughout the City of Pawtucket will open their doors to celebrate “Pawtucket Open Studios” on Sept. 19 – 21, 2008 as part of the Pawtucket Arts Festival.

Locations include:  10 Exchange Court,  75 Montgomery St.,  225 Main St., 545 Pawtucket Ave., 250 Main St., 1005 Main St., 1088 Main St., 250 Esten Ave., 560 Mineral Spring Ave., and 404 Roosevelt Ave., Central Falls. This event is free and open to the public.

Visitors may shop at the artists’ studios and view a variety of fine art, photography, designs, demonstrations, performances, and are encouraged to meet the creative community of artists, architects, graphic designers, and other professionals who are making Pawtucket a “Renaissance city”.  This is also an opportunity to learn more about the revitalized mills and buildings that have found new meaning for the City’s inhabitants.

Free maps for this self-guided tour will be available as of September 1, 2008 at:
Blackstone Valley Visitor Center, 175 Main Street, Pawtucket, can be downloaded and will be available at each location as well as at the participating studios and businesses.

Shuttle bus will be available on Saturday and Sunday at the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center and will loop around to all locations. Handicap bus will also be available. The Open Studio Weekend is held as the final weekend of the Pawtucket Arts Festival.  Visit www.PawtucketArtsFestival.org for additional information on all events.  Event sponsors include the City of Pawtucket, the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, and Rhode Island Commercial Industrial Realty (RICIR).For more information about open studios:  www.PawtucketOpenStudios.com

About the Revitalization
Pawtucket is on the verge of a Renaissance as it becomes populated by artists and businesses eager to occupy the refurbished mill spaces.  Len Lavoie of RICIR is revamping and renting work and live-work studios in the mills throughout the city.  Because space is plentiful and the price is right, artists have been eager to move in and get working.  Other mill conversions, such as the Bayley Street Lofts, Riverfront Lofts, and 595 Mineral Spring Ave., have provided live-work spaces for lease or purchase by artists and those supportive of the arts. Together, the mill conversions make many opportunities for the arts community to grow and to expand Pawtucket’s horizons in a positive way.  This vibrant community of artists are planning gatherings and monthly open studio events, helping networking throughout the community.

Riverboat Tours

Riverboat Tours: Blackstone Valley Tourism Council has announced that the Blackstone Valley Explorer will remain in Central Falls through the end of the season. Sunday public tours run hourly at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. from the Central Falls Landing, at Broad Street and Madeira Avenue. For reservations, call (401) 724-2200 or visit www.rivertourblackstone.com.

House of the week: Old shoe store finds a new life with Richard Kazarian’s help

From the ProJo – there are great photos on this site you should definitely take a minute to look at!

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, September 13, 2008

By Christine Dunn

Journal Staff Writer

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Double sliding glass doors open to the “church-style” kitchen on the first floor, which features a huge Vulcan range similar to the type featured in most high-end kitchen renovations. Below right, the bath in the master suite. Below left, a small bathroom on the first floor.

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Double sliding glass doors open to the “church-style” kitchen on the first floor, which features a huge Vulcan range similar to the type featured in most high-end kitchen renovations. Below right, the bath in the master suite. Below left, a small bathroom on the first floor.

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The top level includes the new steel-and-glass addition, which features a large terrace, and the master bedroom suite. The master bath has a deep soaking tub and a separate walk-in shower.

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Owner Richard Kazarian added on to the former shoe store, originally built as a meetinghouse for spiritualists, in a modern style that blends with the historic elements.

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The front door opens up to the main room with its lofty ceiling. ON THE COVER: A new central staircase links all three levels of 9 Montgomery St., in Pawtucket, and a large skylight lets light in to all levels.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

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Page 2

The Providence Journal Sandor Bodo

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–>With its eclectic design and collections of furniture and artful objects, the house that Richard Kazarian crafted from an abandoned shoe store and former spiritualist meetinghouse in downtown Pawtucket is a visual treat.

But its future could turn out to be a radical departure from its present — and its past.

Although Kazarian, an art and antiques dealer, has used 9 Montgomery St. as his residence, the building is in a commercial zone and could be used in a variety of ways. It is on the market for $998,000.

“It would make a beautiful restaurant,” said real estate agent Ralph Curti.

Gallery

Walk through the House of the Week

Today, 9 Montgomery St. is a spacious (5,061-square-foot), utterly unique home, one that is often admired by people who, like Kazarian, are interested in the interplay between historic and modern architectural elements. The house was featured in the September 2006 issue of Architectural Digest.

Kazarian, 59, is a Pawtucket native who is deeply involved in efforts to revitalize downtown Pawtucket and recreate it as both a thriving neighborhood and a center for arts and culture.

He has bought and sold many of the city’s once-abandoned and neglected industrial buildings, often selecting as buyers artists and artisans who have chosen to live and work in downtown Pawtucket.

Kazarian, a former history professor, remembered 9 Montgomery St. from his youth, when it was the U-Pic shoe store.

But after buying it, almost on impulse, he learned that the building had once been used as the Pawtucket Progressive Spiritualist Lyceum, a meetinghouse for a group interested in communicating with departed souls.

Kazarian’s renovation/addition project team included designer Julie Clifton and Yoder + Tidwell, a Providence architectural firm. The Preservation Cooperative in Warren was the contractor.

All the systems — heating, electrical, plumbing — are new, and Kazarian said a new roof was fashioned from lead-coated copper.

Kazarian thought about the spiritualists when making certain design decisions. For instance, he wanted the kitchen to be “what a church kitchen might look like” rather than the typical “domesticated” kitchen. There are no built-in cabinets, and the look is clean and austere. The kitchen chandelier was made from a stovepipe and hurricane lamps. Two integral sinks made from black soapstone are part of a custom piece that also includes counter space and a set of pull-out drawers, with a large shelf under the sinks. The huge Vulcan range is similar to the type featured in most high-end kitchen renovations. But there is little else about the house that is typical.

The main entryway leads to a vast open space with a wood-beam cathedral ceiling. The kitchen and a guest bedroom are also on the main level, in the back of the building, and there is also a half bathroom. The flooring on the main level is a gray rubber with radiant heat underneath.

A modern metal staircase commands the center of this space, and it is directly under a large skylight on the third floor that lets light spill into all three levels of the house.

The top level includes the new steel-and-glass addition, which features a large terrace, and the master bedroom suite. The master bath has a deep soaking tub and a separate walk-in shower.

The basement houses Kazarian’s office. Here there are built-in bookshelves, and a closet behind his massive desk. The bottom level also has a laundry room and a cedar closet.

There is also a courtyard behind the house.

Everywhere are unusual and inventive fixtures and objects. And despite the house’s dramatic space and modern edge, the building has an undeniable warmth and human scale. But for Kazarian, the context of the house is more important than the building itself, or its contents.

The house “is all about what is happening today in downtown Pawtucket,” said real estate agent Nancy Markham.

In 2006, after waiting two years to find a suitable buyer for the property, Kazarian sold the former Elks Club building at 27 Exchange St. in Pawtucket to a partnership of antiques dealers. Markham said she expects him to exhibit a similar concern for 9 Montgomery St.

Kazarian “is a businessman,” Markham said. “… [But] he’s not necessarily about the money.”

The Kazarian house at 9 Montgomery St., Pawtucket, is on the market for $998,000. Annual taxes are $4,748. For more information, contact Residential Properties Ltd. agents Nancy Markham, (401) 553-6310 or Ralph Curti, (401) 553-6305.How to submit a House of the Week

A different House of the Week appears each Saturday in the projoHomes section of The Providence Journal. The feature tells the story of the house and the people who have lived in it. If you would like us to consider a house for sale as a subject of this news feature, send a photo, information about the house and why it is of interest, to Christine Dunn or Andy Smith, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902; fax (401) 277-8250; or e-mail pjhomes@projo.com.

For more information, call Dunn: (401) 277-7913 or Smith: (401) 277-7262.

cdunn@projo.com

Pawtucket Rising?

‘Pawtucket Rising’ to tell the story of city’s arts scene

on 09-15-2008 01:39   By VINAYA SAKSENA PAWTUCKET— On a few recent occasions, Pawtucket has been used as the setting of movies currently being produced, but now a movie has been produced about the city. The movie, titled “Pawtucket Rising,” documents the city’s emergence as the home of a vibrant new arts scene, according to filmmaker Jason Caminiti. Born and raised in Newport, Caminiti is now based in Fall River, Mass., where he has been producing material for local public access television. “Pawtucket Rising,” which he calls his first “wide audience feature length documentary film,” was actually created partly with his current home city in mind. Caminiti said the seeds of the film’s creation were first planted when he became involved in a mayoral campaign in the city, at which point he met Jeff Carpenter of Arts United, a group devoted to promoting the arts in Fall River. Caminiti had been looking for places to visit to find material for a documentary on the arts, and had been thinking of filming in places like Fall River and Lowell when Carpenter suggested he give Pawtucket a try. At first, he said, the suggestion surprised him, in part because he did not know much about the city beforehand. “I didn’t know it was called ‘the Bucket,’” Caminiti said, though what he knew about the city pointed to a city that had been in decline. “So when I heard about the Arts Festival, I thought, ‘that’s a perfect story.’” And what Caminiti saw once he came to the city convinced him that he was onto something. In November of last year, he spoke to Economic and Cultural Affairs Officer Herb Weiss, and the city’s arts czar wasted little time in introducing him to various local artists and public officials who had been involved in the revitalization of vacant mill buildings in the form of artist studios and living spaces. “By the time I was done in there, I realized there was a (major) story there. So I kept going back.” In addition to promoting city officials’ efforts to recast Pawtucket as a home for a rising arts scene, the film serves another purpose for Caminiti. He pointed out that Fall River recently decided to go ahead with the creation of an arts overlay district in their city, an effort he had hoped to see take off. And though he began conceiving “Pawtucket Rising” before this effort received the go-ahead from Fall River residents, he said he still feels it will be relevant to the people of Fall River, showing them what has happened in Pawtucket as an example of what can be done in their city. Since his work on the film began after last year’s Pawtucket Arts Festival, Caminiti said he did not have footage from that event, and would be seeking to get some at this year’s festival The official debut, including Arts Festival footage, will take place at the Pawtucket Visitor’s Center as part of the Mirror Image Film Festival, on Sept. 21. The event, starting with a reception at 4:30 p.m., will also feature the premiere of “Solitaire,” which, despite the lead role of adult film actress Marilyn Chambers, Weiss calls a G-rated film. Admission to the “double feature” includes food and even a Sam Adams beer, all for $10. Caminiti will offer a talk after the show. “You can make something of a city that (will be) looked at in the most positive light,” he said. I’d like people to see that they can do something in their city. They can revitalize it.” More information on “Pawtucket Rising” can be found online at: www.pawtucketrising.info.

The State of Public Transit – From the “Public”

Public brainstorms on R.I. transportation

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on 09-17-2008 01:41   BY JIM BARON LINCOLN — Tolls on the Iway, reinstating the car tax, indexing the gas tax to inflation, and arranging for people with jobs in Massachusetts and Connecticut to pay Rhode Island income taxes on the days they work at home and telecommute. Those were some of the ideas offered by members of the public Monday at a public hearing of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation funding, held at Community College of RI. It would take $639 million a year for the next 10 years to get Rhode Island’s infrastructure, particularly its roads and bridges, in good shape, said Department of Transportation Director Michael Lewis. Currently, the state has about $354 million a year to spend, and most of that comes from the federal government, which Seeis also squeezed for transportation funding and could cut back what it sends to the states. Part of Rhode Island’s problem, Lewis said, is an overreliance on federal funding for the transportation infrastructure work it does. While regional neighbors such as Massachusetts and New Hampshire, pay more than 60 percent of their own bridge and road work, about the national average; Rhode Island pays just 27 percent. Just weeks ago, Rhode Island was in danger of losing $70 million of the $220 million it had been slated to get in federal funds. That cut was averted at the 11th hour, Lewis said, but next year could be a different story, he noted, adding that if federal funding does go down, “we are in a world of hurt.” In many ways, the state already is. Of the 772 roads and bridges in the Ocean State, 164 are structurally deficient, and 61, including the Pawtucket River Bridge on Route 95 are posted with weight limits. The Pawtucket bridge, Lewis said, is the only one on the entire Interstate Highway System with a weight limit. While 30 percent of Rhode Island’s roadways are rated as good, and 12 percent are esteemed as excellent, that means 58 percent of the roads are only fair (32 percent), poor (16 percent) or outright failed (10 percent). “There is simply no choice but to act now,” said Anthony De Luca of Saunderstown. “To do nothing would be irresponsible, costly and disastrous. “Without proper funding to implement short and long term highway, bridge and infrastructure repair, maintenance and construction programs, one truth is absolutely clear,” De Luca said. “Our problems will become worse and the costs will grow exponentially. The safety of our citizens will be compromised, our economy will suffer great losses and the present costs will pale by comparison.” Barry Schiller of North Providence suggested a referendum to see if Rhode Islanders would pay a higher sales tax to fund a package of DOT and RIPTA improvements. “Don’t assume we won’t support you,” Schiller told the DOT officials at the hearing. Highway tolls, he said, should be a “last resort.” But if Rhode Island decides to institute tolls, it should do so on the Iway. “Do it where the cars are and where the expense is.” Richard Langseth of the Greenwich Bay Watershed Group, pushed the idea of having Rhode Island telecommuters shift their income tax obligation to this state, rather than paying it to the state that houses their employer. “There are clear benefits for Rhode Island to support such a telecommuting program,” Langseth testified, “namely millions of dollars in state taxes going to other states. With an official telecommuting program in place, it might be possible to build incentives that would encourage employees to join up and get off the highways and commuter trains.” The blue ribbon panel plans three more public hearings across the state between now and Sept. 25, one in Providence, one in South Kingstown and one in Newport. The group is scheduled to give its final report to Governor Carcieri in November.

Election Update

From the Pawtucket Times (no idea why it’s dated for tomorrow):

Recount doesn’t change Pawtucket primaries

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on 09-17-2008 01:38   By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN PAWTUCKET — With a final tally that lessened by just one vote, a ballot recount did not change the last Tuesday’s election day results in the City Council at-large race in the Democratic primary. The top three finishers, in order of votes earned, are still Albert J. Vitali Jr., Thomas E. Hodge, and Lorenzo C. Tetreault. These three Democrats will face Republican candidate Joel M. Tirrell and independent candidate Michael W. Newman in the November general election, with the top three vote-getters winning a seat on the City Council. The recount had been requested by John S. Baxter Jr., a School Committee member and endorsed Democrat who finished in fourth place, 19 votes behind Tetreault. Baxter said he had asked for the recount after receiving two different sets of figures on election night, one from the city’s Board of Canvassers and another from the state Board of Elections, which showed a much closer margin between him and Tetreault. According to Robert Kando, executive director of the state Board of Elections, the recount showed that Baxter gained one vote, changing his final total to 2,436, as opposed to an earlier tally of 2,435. This left him still 18 votes behind Tetreault, whose final tally remained the same, at 2,454. Kando said that Vitali and Hodge each lost one vote from their original totals, finishing with 2,815 for Vitali and 2,598 for Hodge. The final total for Raymond J. Spooner, who ended up in fifth place, remained unchanged, with 1,933 votes. Kando said these latest figures include the mail-in ballots which were counted following the primary election. According to Pawtucket Board of Canvassers Registrar Kenneth Magill, Baxter does not intend to challenge the recount. He also declined to contest the 26 provisional ballots (mail-in) ballots that were disqualified by the Board of Canvassers. Four provisional ballots were included in the final voting count, said Magill. Baxter told the TIMES on Tuesday that while he is disappointed with his loss, he accepts the results and looks to putting his energy toward his family, and in finishing out the remainder of his School Committee term. Baxter joked that the only thing he can think of that he might have done differently was “move to the third ward.” He noted that 33 percent of the voting came from the third ward and that he was the only at-large candidate from outside of that precinct. As a four-year School Committee member and former chairman, Baxter noted that with a few rare exceptions, it has been nearly impossible for a school board member to obtain a City Council seat in the city’s recent history. “I think there is a genuine fear among the electorate that people from the school board will be pro-schools–overly so when it comes to the budget,” said Baxter. “However, next to Dave Coughlin, I like to think I was the most fiscally conservative member of the board for the four years that I’ve been serving,” he said. Baxter, along with incumbent Councilor Hodge and Tetreault, chairman of the Democratic City Committee, had been the Democratic Party’s endorsed candidates. All three had voiced support for incumbent Mayor James E. Doyle, who is running for re-election against Councilor-at-large Donald R. Grebien. Vitali, a local businessman and former Ward 3 City Councilor who lost a re-election bid to Councilor Henry Kinch Jr. in 2006, was unendorsed. He is a backer of Grebien. -30-