The Woonasquatucket Adventure Park has three main elements: an off-road bicycle and running trail, a parkour course and a pump track that can be used by skateboarders or people riding BMX bikes. Will Cornwall told me what a pump track is all about:
[Will Cornwall] “It’s kinda like the craziest exercise machine you’ve ever seen” How do you use it? “Go fast and hang on.”
The pump track is made out of concrete and there’s a series of wave-like structures connected with steeply banked turns. Instead of pedaling, you use the weight of your body to push your bike or your skateboard up and down the waves, then you swoop around these steep banked curves. John Brito was trying out the track on the opening day.
[John Brito] “Well, right here, it’s really hard because as soon as you’re out of this it throws you into another berm. This right here is a good section, that right there is what really tests your skill.”
John is one of the members of the 1PVD cycling team, it’s made up of high school students from Providence who compete in cyclocross. Elijah Hughes told me what cyclocross is all about.
[Elijah Hughes] “There’s different obstacles throughout the race. Say there’s a very steep hill, you have to dismount off your bike, run it up the hill and remount as fast as you can. Or there’s man-made barriers in the course and you have to get off, run over the barriers.” So what’s it like having this practice course here, in Providence? “It’s super cool because it’s really close to my house and it’s close to basically all of our houses. We get to come here and we get to practice. We were putting on weekly races here.”
What Elijah said right there is one of the key things about this park – it’s close to where people live. Here’s Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, speaking at the official opening of the park.
[Jorge Elorza] “You know for most of our kids throughout the city, we don’t have backyards in our communities with grass that allows us to spread our wings and run around and be kids. For most of the kids in the city of Providence, the public parks are our backyards. That’s why we’ve made it a goal that we want every single child in the city to live within a 10 minute walking distance of a beautiful public park. And because of the amazing work that our parks department has done over the years, we have now reached that goal where 100% of our kids in the city live within walking distance of a beautiful public park.”
Along with the off-road bike trail and the pump track, there’s also equipment for Parkour – that’s a sort of gymnastic running, jumping between obstacles, swinging from poles, doing flips. You’ve probably seen it in an action movie where the hero is running across rooftops. This is a little less dangerous than that. And all of this is within walking distance of the Hartford and Olneyville neighborhoods.
Jess: So before this park what used to be there?
James: I talked with Janet Coit about that, she’s the director of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management.
[Janet Coit] “We are at Lincoln Lace & Braid which was an old factory that made lace. It was part of the industrial history of Providence. The first time I saw this site, it was just rubble. It was the ruins of a burned-out building: the old bricks, other detritus. That was about, probably 20 years ago. But the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council had a vision to bring the river back to the community. And it involved both cleaning up some old contaminated sites and making them parks, cleaning up the river, bringing a bike path. Trust for Public Land got involved with the City of Providence to acquire this old contaminated site and look for funding to clean it up.”
James: So from a burned out mill, to a polluted brownfield, and now it’s an adventure park.
Jess: But why an adventure park? Why not build a traditional playground or a soccer field?
James: I asked Lisa Aurecchia about that, she’s the director of programs for the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council.
[Lisa Aurecchia] “I feel like it challenges the kids. A lot of kids aren’t necessarily into group [sports]: traditional baseball, soccer. They might want to check out something different. It’s an acceptable risk, I think. It’s like, ‘can we challenge ourselves.’ And that builds character and I think it’s super important. I think that’s what cyclocross does, parkour does it. You’re pushing the limits.”
“This park is a place for teenagers who may not have other activities in their life that are constructive and healthy to get outside, engage in risky activities that teenagers need to do, in a safe, fun place.”
James: That was Kevin Essington, from the Trust for Public Land, one of the groups that helped plan and create the park. — Janet Coit from the Department of Environmental Management told me how the whole thing came together.
[Kevin Essington] “People in Rhode Island routinely support green bonds for open space, for clean water with the highest level of votes that comes before them in terms of referenda. So, time and again, the people of Rhode Island, the people of Providence have supported state funding and that funding has been braided together (at Lincoln Lace & Braid) with other funding to make it possible to do this. I think a lot of times the state grant is a catalyst that shows people that there’s buy-in and there’s investment. And that helps groups like the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council to attract other funding. So I just think people should know that these state bonds come to life in their communities in the form of parks.”
Jess: Sounds like a fun park to check out.
James: Yeah, I’m not ready for the parkour or pump track, but the off-road cycling track is fun. And it’s in Merino park, not far from route 6 and right off the Woonasquatucket bike path, which is a great way to experience nature in the city.
Google maps link for the park location.
The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council has more about the park on their website.
Other items from the Artscape calendar this week:
Up Close On Hope; November 1, 2, 3 and 8, 9, 10 (Various times); Festival Ballet Providence Black Box Theater, 895 Hope Street, Providence.
MountainFilm On Tour; November 2, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM; New Bedford Whaling Museum, Cook Memorial Theater, 18 Johnny Cake Hil, New Bedford, MA.
Jenny Lewis; November 3, 8:00 PM; The Columbus Theatre, 270 Broadway, Providence.
