Three historic houses on a busy stretch of Angell Street in Providence were scheduled for demolition on Monday. But City Councilor John Goncalves says contractors didn’t give proper notice to him, or to neighbors – and he wants to put a stop to it.
TRANSCRIPT:
Luis Hernandez: What’s so important, what’s so special about these three houses?
John Goncalves: Well, I, I think they’re historic in nature. They’re not in a historic district overlay, per se. But they’ve been around for quite some time. And I think one of the challenges that we’re experiencing just broadly is the degradation of historic homes across the city of Providence. Historic preservation is incredibly important. Obviously, we need to grow as a city. We need to address our tax base. We have to address affordability in the city, and that is going to require more building. But unfortunately, when you demolish properties, you’re just taking units off the, off the market. And also it just, it just leaves a, black eye on the neighborhood.
Hernandez: There’s still a pitch or an idea to put apartments or a hotel or retail in that spot. I’m just wondering, what do you, what do you know about, they want to demolish the site, they want to demolish these three buildings, and then what?
Goncalves: Well, that’s, that’s the thing. There is no plan. So currently there are no plans before the Providence Planning Department, which would, it’s a, it’s a department that would know if there were proposed developments on these … particular lots. … So that’s another issue here. We don’t want to have an empty lot here. That would just leave a scar on the neighborhood, and that needs to be addressed. There needs to be transparency as to what, what is the plan? And certainly stakeholders deserve to know, because razing these properties without any transparency especially to local neighbors and stakeholders is absolutely unacceptable.
Hernandez: What have you been hearing from residents about, you know, everything they’ve been thinking and learning about this situation?
Goncalves: I think they’re incredibly frustrated. The only reason why they found out is, I think there were a couple of astute neighbors who had realized that there were, there were notices posted on, on the, on the properties. You know, I got notified at the 11th hour as well. … But as soon as folks started to find out about this, clearly people are very, very upset. And unbeknownst to me as well, they were going to move forward with this demolition on, on Monday, and essentially in the darkness of night. And that’s why we had to intervene and say, “Whoa, not so fast.”
Hernandez: So this is a stopgap. Eventually they’re going to be able to move forward with the demolition if they, if they choose to. What do you want to see happen and what, what is it you plan on doing now?
Goncalves: Well, what we want to ensure happens is that the stakeholders particularly the neighbors in this neighborhood are kept abreast of what the plans are moving forward. … This is a highly traversed street. It’s in close proximity to a school, in fact. So whether it’s dust, debris, the airborne particles that are, that are coming from this demolition site, the folks who are in the immediate area, the abutters need to be notified as to when that is going to happen. And that’s to ensure everyone’s safety. Moving forward, if there are any potential plans that will be filed with the city, it’s incumbent on the folks who are behind this LLC to make those plans be known, and to be transparent about what the plans are. I think people in their respective neighborhoods deserve to know what’s going to happen in their backyards. And that’s what we’re going to ensure moving forward.
