Over the last few years, HOBG has convinced a growing legion of supporters. Consider the thoughts of only some of these supporters:

Elected Officials:

• “Great cities around the world have the guts to give their finest parts to the public realm.”

  – Joe Riley, mayor of Charleston, South Carolina and guest speaker at the Providence Preservation Society’s 2007 Annual Meeting.

• “There is substantial and growing interest within the capital region and beyond to use this property for an array of public and marine-related facilities and activities, all for the public good. The risk of irretrievably losing a unique piece of the waterfront, a loss that would affect many generations, far exceeds the sums that RIDOT might hope to get from a private sale.”

  – Rhode Island State Senator Rhoda Perry and Representative David Segal.

• “We, the undersigned, concur with the concerns expressed herein by Senator Perry and Representative Segal relative to the former Shooters property.”

  – Senators: Frank Ciccone, Maryellen Goodwin, Paul Jabour, Harold Metts, Juan Pichardo and Dominick Ruggerio
  – Representatives: Edith Ajello, Joseph Almeida, Grace Diaz, Arthur Handy, and Thomas Slater.

• “The project proposed by the Head of the Bay Gateway is very exciting and fully permitted by current zoning and the Fox Point Neighborhood Plan. For more than a year, I have supported an economic impact and feasibility study to help determine the best prospects for this great parcel of land.”

  – David N. Cicilline, Mayor of the City of Providence and candidate for Congress.

• “I have repeatedly urged the State to refrain from selling this land, where it would be placed back into the private domain and the hands of private developers… “I will push by whatever means available to guarantee maximum public access to our waterfront, to protect the neighboring park, and the quality of life in the area.”

  – Ward I Councilman Seth Yurdin.

• “The development of the current Shooter's property must include exactly what advocates for a public waterfront are bringing to the table: far-sighted appreciations of need — cultural, economic, and environmental. The vision for our city's waterfront depicted in the Department of Planning & Development's Waterfront plan has been myopic at best. From the beginning, it has pushed a condo on the bay at the expense of the only special interest group that matters: the people who will live, work, learn, play in and visit Providence. The public and private sectors must come together for the sake of their common good. And there is no more important attribute that can be brought to the table than leadership with a vision; a commodity that has been unavailable to us for too long. I shall listen to the advocates for a public waterfront, as I did with the Working Waterfront advocates, and hear your voices. And I stand with you, ready to lead.”

  – John Lombardi, Ward 13 Councilman and candidate for Mayor of Providence.

• “As attorney general, I have worked with a number of groups to bury high voltage power lines that cross this area, and fought to prevent the sale of this site. In this instance, preserving public access to Narragansett Bay is fully consistent with the enhanced economic development opportunities that would be simultaneously achieved. Once example for which I hold great hope is the creation of a water transportation terminal at this location, which could enhance both the environment and economy.”

  – Patrick C. Lynch, Rhode Island Attorney General and candidate for Governor.

• “In the midst of an economy in recession and a great need for development across a vast number of public functions, it is up to our leaders to allocate our recovery stimulus in the most efficient way possible, maximizing the general welfare of the greatest number of our citizens. The India Point project will achieve that outcome.”

  – Lincoln D. Chaffee, former United States Senator and candidate for Governor.

• “This site at the Head of Narragansett Bay is unique—a perfect nexus of downtown destination, regional transportation hub and multiple cultural, tourist and recreational assets. We believe these tasks are fully consistent with the goals of the Administration’s stimulus funding and the search for shovel-ready projects.”

  – Frank T. Caprio, Rhode Island General Treasurer and candidate for Governor.

Federal, State and Municipal Agencies

• “This location would be phenomenal for public use. A ferry landing at the site would activate successful commuter and tourism service between Providence and Newport.”

  – Michael Sullivan, Director of the Department of Environmental Management.

• “The CRMC has already used the area as part of the dredging of the Providence River and are well aware of the many advantages of this location for maritime uses. Keeping our research vessel (R/V Jack Reed), in a public non-profit area, like the Gateway, when conducting our research and monitoring will give the general public an opportunity to see our monitoring and compliance work, as well as ask questions.”

  – Grover J. Fugate, Executive Director of Coastal Resources Management Council.

• “The proximity to the waterfront and the downtown provides interesting possibilities for a development that might feature a visitor's center, maritime-related non-profit organizations, expanded community boating operations, a restaurant (a shore dinner hall), and perhaps other commercial office space. Obviously, management options and financing scenarios would need to be examined for a range of options.”

  – Robert F. McMahon, Deputy Superintendent of Parks for the City of Providence.

Business Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations

• “Public access and use of the waterfront are as important to our mission as ensuring a clean and healthy Bay…this parcel can serve as a reminder to all of the historic connection between Providence and the sea.”

  – Jonathan Stone, Executive Director of Save the Bay.

• “As business and commercial property owners, we all know that one sometimes needs to spend money in order to make it. Properly conceived, the Shooters site could pay back many times over the investment needed to acquire and develop it for public use, just as investment in our River walks has done.”

  – 27 Business Owners from Wickenden & Ives commercial areas.

• “Providence residents and all Rhode Islanders would benefit from a multi-use recreational facility that would provide the public with access to the beauty and maritime heritage of Providence Harbor and Narragansett Bay. Indeed, we… support a vibrant working waterfront, filled with tugs and commercial ship traffic that will enhance the public’s interest in and understanding of Providence Harbor.”

  – Joel Cohen, Chairman of the Working Waterfront.

• “One of the critical elements of success in our cruise business is the ‘curb appeal’ of the environment in which we operate…we believe that, once refurbished, this property would be an excellent base for a variety of hospitality related businesses.”

  – Mike O’Hare, President of Bay Queen Cruises.

• “Many cities that have opted for a tall or dense edge of development right at their waterfront have experienced a precipitous drop in land value a block or two away from the edge – and with it a drop in the quality of the urban environment.”

  – Alex Krieger, the state’s consultant on Interstate 195 lands, remarking in the Urban Waterfront, ULI, 2004.

• “This keystone site…offers the magnificent chance for a complete, unbroken space for our waterfront. We have already seen the enormous value to the city of waterfront development to date, attracting tourists and their business to hotels, restaurants and shops.”

  – Anna L. Browder, President of Blackstone Parks Conservancy.

• “We urge RIDOT to cooperate with a process that ensures instead of being sold off to private developers, it can become part of a &mdash crown jewel &mdash at the Head of Narragansett Bay…that can be useful for recreation, boating, education, tourism promotion, community events, open air markets and such. With connections to river walks being developed along the nearby Providence River, and RIDOT's excellent vision for both the new pedestrian bridge to India Point Park and the linear park on the Washington Bridge, there is terrific potential to form a critical mass of public space that can have a wonderful impact. This area also is important to us as it helps connect the East Bay and West Bay bike paths with downtown.”

  – Barry Schiller, Transportation Chair of the Sierra Club, Rhode Island Chapter.

• “The Providence Preservation Society (PPS) has long viewed the City’s waterfront as a cornerstone of its identity and sense of place, and has urged that shoreline development respect our 300-year maritime heritage, a heritage of national significance that deserves recognition and respect…We hope the City, recognizing the strategic importance of this deep-water site, will urge RIDOT not to dispose of Shooters to the highest bidder without giving full consideration to the potential of developing a public destination on the site. The City and State of Rhode Island stand to gain far more in the long run by limiting any construction at the site to a lower profile, allowing for taller buildings set back from the shoreline north of the new I-195, thus multiplying the value of water views to many more properties. An investment in an active, publicly accessible waterfront will also promote heritage tourism and further enhance the city and state’s reputation as an international destination.”

  – Jack A. Gold, former Executive Director of the Providence Preservation Society.

• “A high concentration of residential development limits the diversity of waterfront uses, creating constituencies invested in preventing 24-hour activity from flourishing.”

  – Project for Public Spaces Report on Providence Riverfront Parks, April 2009.

• “I’m happy to learn that cultural groups like Festival Ballet have already expressed support for your plan, and have articulated a way in which they might utilize part of your new space. At the Philharmonic, we have been actively searching for a venue with great food that would be suitable for more out-of-the-box chamber performances through a "Philharmonic Club Concert" series. If the restaurant you envision were built with a small sound stage, it could be the ideal location – particularly in the summer months if the space could open to outdoor seating. Additionally, what the state lacks is a substantial outdoor performance venue. I would love to see any design plan for the area contemplate an acoustical shell and shed at India Point Park or close to it that would connect in some way to the Shooters site, and to any other development ideas for the waterfront.”

  – David Beauchesne, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic & Orchestra Music School.

• “Taken as a whole, the Providence waterfront has the potential to incorporate a working waterfront, prime urban park and recreational space with public access to the Bay, a point of connection between land and water transportation, and possibly, some new residential and commercial development. It is very important that careful study be given as to where the different uses can best be located so that they complement and support rather than negatively impact each other.”

  – Scott Wolf, Executive Director of GrowSmartRI.

• “Providence and the East Side and thus is important to our vision of a bicycle-friendly state. As Rhode Island’s official Tall Ship, the Sloop Providence would benefit greatly in having an additional venue in which to undertake our central mission of sail training for the youth throughout Rhode Island.”

  – Richard M. McAuliffe, Jr., President of the Board of the Providence Maritime Heritage Foundation.

• “Although a nationally recognized organization with over 2,100 members, the Steamship Historical Society of America has its roots in Rhode Island. Our mission is that we are a group of people …dedicated to recording, preserving and disseminating the history of engine-powered vessels. We…feel that the vision (of HOBG) and thematic approach are consistent with our objectives.”

  – Matthew W. Schulte, Executive Director of The Steamship Historical Society of America.

• “The Community Boating Center (CBC), which lies to the east of Fox’s Point and is contiguous to the properties controlled by the RIDOT, is a non-profit organization that provides sailing instruction to residents of Rhode Island and offers a variety of after-school programs and “sailorships” to children who cannot afford to sail. Last year, over 500 children learned to sail at CBC. Through its programs, CBC fosters a love of sailing and an appreciation for Narragansett Bay. The organization is well positioned to assist the City of Providence and the Ocean State in the improvement and preservation of Fox’s Point as a community resource.”

  – John O’Flaherty, Executive Director of Community Boating Center.

• “(This parcel) with a seamless waterfront greenway…provides a chance to create a destination public attraction that would continue the example of civic enlightenment set by our riverfront renaissance. Bicyclists, kayakers, canoeists, pedestrians and families from all over our region would come together there. It would be an excellent place for a cycling center at the nexus of the state’s three major bike paths coming up the East Bay, down the Blackstone, and across from the Connecticut line.”

  – Sue Barker, Chair of the Greenways Alliance of Rhode Island.

• “Privatization of this waterfront area with what would likely be high-rise development appears to be inconsistent with several local and state policies and plans, threatens the much needed preservation and enhancement of the India Point Park area for public use and creates a wall between the community and the Bay – instead of a Gateway to the Bay and into the community. It would be a waste of an unique opportunity.”

  – Jan H. Reitsma, Executive Director of the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission.

• “Thank you (HOBG) for your visionary efforts to transform this building (Shooters) into a maritime-themed center that will benefit many outfits and organizations as well as the children and citizens of Providence and beyond. I’m excited to continue to explore possibilities and help make this idea come into fruition. The Ocean State deserves—and would benefit greatly from—such a center of positive activity.”

  – Bill Mott, director of The Ocean Project.

• “The view is what we need to protect, as you travel the road and look to the south. Look to the north you see the Providence river leading you to the skyline of the city of Providence. This is a great advertisement for the city and the state. The view is an invitation to the many people who travel the — I Way — to stop and explore our Ocean State. To allow the Shooters building to be replaced and block this view would be a disservice to the public.”

  – Keith Gonsalves, Ten Mile River Watershed Alliance, East Providence.

• “The RI Blueways Alliance supports the Head of the Bay's proposal for public use of the 1.7 acre state-owned Shooters nightclub property. This dovetails with our mission to develop a water trail network that links Rhode Island's rivers, lakes and ponds to Narragansett Bay. Public water access is a rare commodity in the Providence area. It would be a shame to see this opportunity slip away into yet another condo project. A public destination here will encourage healthy recreation, connect parks and promote use of the businesses in the area; a trifecta for intelligent planning.”

  – Terry Meyer Secretary, Board of Directors of Rhode Island’s Blueways Alliance.

• “At present, Paul Cuffee students learn to sail at the Community Boating Center, adjacent to the Shooters property…is the type of activity that the Community Boating Center should be expanding rather than being hemmed in by non-recreational enterprises.”

  – David Burnham, President of the Paul Cuffee School, a Maritime Charter School for Providence children.

• “City Sail Inc., is a nonprofit organization with ten years of experience dedicated to teaching inner-city youth the art of boat building and sailing. Our program is part of a larger consortium composed of members of the marine trades and job-training initiatives geared towards minorities, women and disadvantaged youth, collectively known as the Trident League. We share your (HOBG) vision.”

  – Henry Marciano, Director of City Sail, Inc.

• “Over the last decade there has been a distinct attempt to discourage the “privatization” of the waterfront particularly when residential development is involved. This emphasis is particularly important when significant public dollars have been involved in the site’s development process.”

  – Ninigret Partners Report on Residential Impact On Public Space, October 2008.

Community Voices and Neighborhood Associations:

• “A poll of 766 persons indicated that only 2%, voted for condos at Shooters, 750 voted, or 89% voted for public use — park or recreation/entertainment space.”

  – Providence Business News.

• Nearly all participants at charettes, planning workshops and hearings for the College Hill, Wayland and Fox Point Neighborhood Plan and the Waterfront Plan believe that “residences do not belong along the waterfront.”

  – Providence Journal, 6/13/08, 5/8/08, 3/4/08)

• “We can make the city’s centrally located Bay shoreline a destination with public attractions that will draw people from throughout the region. Twelve neighborhoods are within a 10-15 minute walk or bike ride away: Fox Point, College Hill, Jewelry District, Downtown, Upper South, Providence, East Providence, Wayland Square, Blackstone, Summit, West Broadway, Federal Hill and Smith Hill. This vision of a public gateway at the head of the Bay has been part of the city’s Comprehensive Plan since 1984 when the initial Waterfront Study was adopted. It has been amplified by the Old Harbor Plan (adopted as part of the current Comp Plan in 1994), by Sasaki’s Narragansett Landing plan of 2000.”

  – David Riley, President of Friends of India Point Park and Co-Chair of HOBG.

• “We suggest the city might lease a strip of land along the edge of the relocated Route 195 to be developed as a privately operated venue for the public, like a cafe, as the city does now at Waterplace Park.”

  – Maria Ruggieri, President of the Downtown Neighborhood Alliance.

• “We urge RIDOT not to dispose or improve the property in any way that might preclude…potential uses before the citizens and government of Providence and Rhode Island had time to complete these planning processes.”

  – Ken Orenstein, President of Jewelry District Association.

• “India Point is our space. If nothing else, let’s preserve it for public space.”

  – Claire Andrade-Watkins, an Emerson College Professor, who created the 2006 film, “Some Kind of Funny Porto Rican? – A Cape Verdean American Story.”

• “The goal is to have a space for Cape Verdeans to gather for the annual Cape Verdean Independence Day celebration, which now (June 2008) is held at Roger Williams Park. The Cape Verdean community in Fox Point is gone, but we have not forgotten them. It is part of our Cape Verdean legacy and part of Rhode Island’s rich and diverse history.”

  – João Goncalves, President of the Subcommittee of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission.

• “Making our waterfront an attractive and accessible feature to residents in our city will enhance the quality of life and property values for all, including our neighbors here in Summit and every resident of Providence. We urge you to seize this rare opportunity to create a lasting legacy for the people of Providence.”

  – Jonathan Howard, President of the Summit Neighborhood Association.

• “An opportunity to acquire a bayside site of this caliber in the City of Providence will not occur again for many generations. We should seize the chance to acquire this property to bring the pleasures of boating, fishing and walking along the Bay to all the people.”

  – Kari Nel Lang, Executive Director of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association.

• “With the approximately 19 acres that will become available on the current Interstate Highway 195 right of way, RIDOT has many opportunities to sell unneeded land so as to recoup its highway expenses. Furthermore, Federal regulations explicitly allow RIDOT to transfer land, as it has in the past, at less than fair market value when a clear public interest is involved, such as creating parks, recreation facilities, or scenic conservation areas, conditions that all seem to be exactly what the Bootleggers parcel offers.”

  – Peggy Boyd and Henry D. Sharpe, Jr., India Point Park Preservationists.

• “This (Shooters) is where Providence meets the world, and please, let’s treat it as such.”

  – Ethan Ris, former FPNA Vice-President, testifying at the CPC’s Waterfront Plan meeting, May 17, 2007.

• “We also object to the unduly limited vision that the Draft Interim Comprehensive Plan contemplates for the city's potentially spectacular waterfront areas. Its recommendation of a general mixed-use development approach (Section 11.2.3) would seem to all but assure that a far less than optimal result would be achieved. … The attractiveness of such an ambitious open area would so enhance the values of surrounding areas and the city as a whole that it would more than make up for whatever tax and other revenue the city would not receive from private development of the waterfront areas.”

  – William Touret, Vice-President of the College Hill Neighborhood Association, in a letter to DPD, May 1, 2007.