Kennedy Plaza May Soon Get New Look

A plan to fill Kennedy Plaza in Providence with a mix of pedestrian-friendly activities will be announced Thursday evening.

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Credit Natalie Jablonski/RIPR

Providence's Kennedy Plaza may undergo renovations.

The effort to populate Kennedy Plaza with more people is being led by the Downtown Providence Parks Conservancy. The group’s head, Cliff Wood, said it will take time and a mix of millions of dollars in public and private money to reach the goal. The vision is to fill Kennedy Plaza with a variety of uses, like transit, shopping, socializing, concerts, a beer garden and children’s programs.

“When you have those different things all drawing, it creates a space that’s safer, that has more socially beneficial, culturally and subsequently economically beneficial opportunities that come with it," Wood said.

Wood says Kennedy Plaza will remain a hub for RIPTA bus service, but that some bus lines will be dispersed elsewhere in downtown. The plaza was named for John F. Kennedy after the president’s assassination in 1963.