Mobile Workshops
Thursday, October 6th
Jewelry District Walking Tour
Time: 10:30AM – 12:30PM
Ticket Price: $15
Participant Cap: 20
Lead: Olin Thompson
Join us for a two-hour guided walking tour of the Historic Jewelry District in Providence. We will discuss the past, the present, and the future. Why is it called the Jewelry District? Learn about the District’s history, buildings, and architecture. Learn about the people… from Mayors to business owners to factory workers. Learn about innovation from the first Providence building with electricity, to the first steam engine, to a revolutionary watch band to today’s medical innovations. The District has been a hot spot for innovation for over 100 years.
Providence River Architecture and History Boat Tour
Time: 10:30AM – 12:15PM
Ticket Price: $40
Participant Cap: 17
Lead: Providence Preservation Society
Experience 300 years of architectural history as you cruise the Providence waterways! This boat tour, led by the Providence Preservation Society, highlights the stories, sight lines, and subtle details that define Providence. From the most eye-catching landmarks on the city skyline to hidden architectural gems, you’ll discover historic Providence from the best seat in town!
Broad Street Scooter Tour: Providence’s Great Streets Master Plan from Vision to Implementation
Time: 1:30PM – 3:00PM
Ticket Price: $20
Participant Cap: 15
Lead: City of Providence Department of Planning and Development
This workshop will showcase Broad Street, the latest and most significant urban trail implemented as part of the City’s Great Streets Plan. Providing connection from South Providence to Downtown, the Broad Street urban trail serves a historically underserved, minority-majority neighborhood with some of the highest incidence of crashes in the city. Take a scooter ride with us to learn more about the City’s visioning and implementation process and see what we’ve been up to!
“Thomassons” Walking Tour
Time: 3:00PM – 4:30PM
Ticket Price: $15
Participant Cap: 30
Lead: Eric Weiss, RI Department of Transportation
Thomassons (urban architectural relics, such as bridle hitching posts or disconnected fire call boxes), built-environment scars (such as wrought iron stubs where window shutters or awnings were once attached to buildings), and relic signage carry memories of how places once operated and people once lived. Features of urban architecture become relics for a variety of reasons, from changing transportation modes, to the advent of new technologies, to the changing character of neighborhoods. Our region’s cities and towns are awash in such relics. This mobile workshop will help planners understand how to use these elements to our advantage when encouraging civic pride and historic preservation.
Friday, October 7
Providence Walking Tour: Early Black History
Time: 11:30AM – 1:00PM
Ticket Price: $15
Participant Cap: 30
Lead: Traci Picard, The Center for Reconciliation
Providence history is Black history, from the early days of the colony to today. In 1737, British colonizers turned to the business of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery to support themselves. They imported captive Africans who helped to build this colony and others throughout the Western Hemisphere. The legacy of slavery and its aftermath is deep, uncomfortable, and, in many ways, has been hidden and silenced. Despite this, generations of Black Rhode Islanders lived and thrived. Taking this tour is an act of remembrance, which honors the lives of those whose stories are only partially known, but who contributed significantly to the city you see today.
Downtown Transit Connector Walking Tour
Time: 2:15PM – 3:45PM
Ticket Price: $15
Participant Cap: 30
Lead: Ned Codd, WSP USA and Sarah Ingle, RIPTA
The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s (RIPTA) Providence Downtown Connector (DTC) is a 1.5-mile transit priority corridor that has consolidated seven pre-existing bus routes onto a single, high-frequency corridor connecting major destinations and activity centers from the Providence Train Station to Rhode Island Hospital. The project includes dedicated bus and bike lanes, modern bus shelters, and transit signal priority measures to provide faster, more reliable service. Come learn about the planning of this transit corridor and see firsthand recently installed infrastructure.
Providence Kayak Tour
Time: 4:00PM – 6:00PM
Ticket Price: $40
Participant Cap: 14
Lead: Lisa Aurecchia, Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council and Providence Department of Planning and Development
The downtown Providence paddle will start and end at the landing on South Water Street. Although this is the heart of downtown Providence, we regularly see red-tailed hawks, great blue herons, and many other birds in this stretch of the river. On the route, we will be discussing the exciting plans for development of the Promenade/Kinsley section of the river, which include; expanded and specially marked bike lanes, extensive green space and pocket park development, boat launches, increased pedestrian accessibility and much more. This is an excellent chance to see the “before” picture of this stretch of Greenway while learning about the positive changes that are on the way.
