THE INTEREST
The OpThe opportunity to develop waterfront brownfield sites is interesting for several reasons. First, historic and persisting contamination of waterfront parcels may pose hazards to the public waterway, affecting human health, natural resources and the vitality of the estuarine ecosystem between the Providence River and Narragansett Bay. Second, waterfront properties tend to be highly coveted for their visibility, and the waterfront area of the Jewelry District has been selected for the site of the Heritage Harbor Museum project, to be undertaken by the developer Struever Brothers, Eccles and Russe. Third, redevelopment of the waterfront presents the opportunity to implement sustainable practices effectively, particularly by providing public access to the water and by mitigating the effects of urban runoff. The City of Providence, in conjunction with the Sasaki planning company, has proposed a plan for development of Providence commonly known as Providence 2020, discussed elsewhere in this site. Providence 2020 places heavy and enthusiastic emphasis on the importance of the waterfront in connecting the city’s districts and communities. With this in mind, the following section attempts to understand the situation of the Jewelry District’s waterfront brownfields: their history and current contamination, the plans for cleanup and development, the regulations and plans to which they are subject, and the possibilities for improving or expanding upon how brownfields redevelopment is conducted for waterfront parcels. Of particular interest is how to redevelop the waterfront sustainably, taking human concerns as well as concerns for wildlife within the larger bay system into account.
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