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You can help Get The
Point for the public!
By signing up as a
friend
or make a contribution here,
or read on to donate by check
. . .
The House today voted to put a $10 million bond issue to
purchase the rest of Rocky Point on the ballot next
November! Details
at LATEST NEWS
And, another chance to revisit Rocky Point and show support
for creating a public park there: On Sunday, June 6, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.,
Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian has arranged to open the gate
on Rocky Point Avenue so the public can drive or walk
through the city-owned land along the shoreline. Rain or
shine. Four hours should improve traffic flow and allow
everyone a chance to enjoy the view and show their support.
Foundation officers and volunteers will be on hand for
discussions, to sign up more Friends, and to accept
donations--$25 for a Rocky Point T-shirt. You can also pick
up a bumper sticker. The Warwick Neck Improvement
Association will offer its Warwick Neck book that includes
nearly 50 pages on Rocky Point, including many rare photos.
May 10 news: bond
issue, public access, go to LATEST NEWS
Rocky Point memories. Rocky Point Amusement Park on Warwick
Neck evokes warm memories for many Rhode Islanders. For 150
years, Rhode Islanders traveled by ferry, by horse-drawn
carriage, by trolley, and by automobile to experience one
of New England’s pre-eminent recreational attractions.
Rocky Point is the location from which the first telephone
call was made by a President of the United States, and Babe
Ruth hit a home run from the Rocky Point ballfield into
Narragansett Bay. As children, parents, and grandparents,
we can all remember spending happy times at Rocky Point,
whether riding the Corkscrew, Cyclone, Flume, and Musik
Express, or eating clamcakes and chowder at the World’s
Largest Shore Dinner Hall, or attending concerts on the
Midway. Many of Rhode Island’s notable political events
were held at the Palladium, which was also home to many
weddings, sports banquets, and other events. The openness
of the amusement park allowed fishermen free access to the
point, with its renowned Striped Bass catches, and older
Rhode Islanders parked along the shoreline for a superb
view of Narragansett Bay—a “three-bridge” view spanning
from the Mount Hope Bridge to the Newport-Pell Bridge to
the Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge. Some Rhode Islanders spent
many summers living in their cottages in the small resort
community on the northern end of the property, known as
Rocky Beach. Rocky Point had something for everyone, and
everyone has his or her own personal Rocky Point memories.
The
public shut out. When
the amusement park succumbed to the pressure of its debts
and closed in 1995, however, Rocky Point and its scenic
shoreline was closed to public access. It remains generally
inaccessible to this day, because landward access is
blocked by the portion of the property held in receivership
under the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The
SBA, in furtherance of its duty to try to repay the
amusement park’s debts, tried for years to sell the
property for residential development, but those efforts
have failed. Indeed, residential development was just not
the right answer for the property, because it would provide
only a few Rhode Islanders with access to what is properly
the patrimony of everyone in the Ocean State.
The first step toward
public access. In
2008, the City of Warwick acquired title to 41 acres of the
property—mostly wetlands but importantly including a strip
of land along the entire mile-long shoreline of the
property. This visionary purchase assured eventual public
access to the unrivaled resource of the property’s coast.
The acquisition was made possible through the herculean
efforts of many parties: through a federal grant of over $2
million obtained by Senator Jack Reed, who was an early
proponent of public access to the property, along with
Congressman Jim Langevin; through necessary matching funds
from the City of Warwick and the RI Department of
Environmental Management (DEM) under the leadership of
Mayor Scott Avedisian and Director Michael Sullivan; and
through the cooperation of other city and state officials
and the SBA. Since the City of Warwick’s purchase, Mayor
Avedisian, with the support of DEM and the SBA, has
arranged two occasions when the public could drive and walk
through the city-owned property. Thousands of Rhode
Islanders took advantage of these one-day events in 2008
and 2009 to show their interest and enthusiasm for a public
Rocky Point. Anyone who attended these events can attest to
the incredible response of the public to once again be able
to visit “their” Rocky Point.
The next step.
The City of Warwick is
working on plans to develop permanent public access to the
41-acre portion of the property along the shoreline.
However, SBA control of the remaining 80 acres of the
property presents challenges to making that happen. The
Foundation believes that the best long-term solution for
Rocky Point is acquisition of the entire property by the
City of Warwick and/or the State of Rhode Island, for use
as a public park. To that end, DEM Director Michael
Sullivan and Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian are exploring
possibilities for acquiring for public use part of all of
the rest of the property. Their vision is to create a
sustainable public park with appropriate facilities to take
advantage of this superb resource, provide for vehicular
access, and make sure the property is forever accessible to
and enjoyed by the Rhode Island public. However, making
this vision a reality will require the cooperation and
support of city, state and federal authorities and
charitable foundations, as well as the enthusiastic support
of the public.
What can you do?
This is where you come in! In
2001, a low-key campaign to gather signatures in support of
a public Rocky Point was supported by over 600 Rhode
Islanders from all 39 cities and towns in the Ocean State.
Those signatures demonstrated to officials and others that
they would have widespread support for efforts to assure
public access to Rocky Point. Now a broader, more intensive
campaign, being spearheaded by the Foundation, can provide
the backing necessary to make the next big step, creating
permanent public access to the City of Warwick’s 41 acres
and attempting the acquisition of more acreage, preferably
the entire remaining 80 acres. Every Rhode Islander—and
former Rhode Islander now living elsewhere—can lend support
by signing up as a supporter of the Foundation, by
encouraging others to sign up, and by making any monetary
contribution possible to the Foundation’s efforts.
Contribute.
Creating permanent public
access to the City of Warwick’s 41 acres, and attempting
acquisition of an additional 80 acres of prime real estate,
will require raising some millions of dollars, and efforts
are underway at the city, state and federal government
levels, and though contacts with charitable foundations, to
do so. But there is also an important role for the
contributions of individuals like you. Even modest
individual contributions--$10, $25, or whatever you can
afford—will both add to the total needed and demonstrate to
potential major funders that Rhode Islanders will “put
their money where their mouth is.” We need to demonstrate
that Rhode Islanders are truly dedicated to making sure
that Rocky Point will be publicly accessible for present
and future generations. If not needed for purchasing
additional land, funds raised from the public will go
towards developing trails and facilities on the 41 acres
already in public hands. In all events, funds raised will
go entirely to Rocky Point; the Foundation has no employees
and no professional fundraisers will be used. The
Foundation is now a Section 501(c)(3) corporation, so
contributions may be tax deductible.
How
to contribute $10, $25 or whatever you can.
You can safely use your
credit card by clicking on the DONATE button below. Or if
you would rather contribute by check or cash you can
click here
to print a donation form
to mail or take to The Rocky Point Foundation, c/o
Beacon Communications, 1944 Warwick Avenue, Warwick, RI
02889. Either way, you will become a Friend of Rocky
Point and Donor.
Can’t contribute? In these hard times, not everyone can contribute money. But everyone can lend their name to show support for the cause, and encourage others to do so—by word of mouth, by sending an appeal to your friends and family with a link to this site, or by posting a poster at your work or study place. To sign up as a Friend of Rocky Point click here.
Sign others up. Click here to request a sign-up sheet which we will email to you in Word format. You can make copies and ask your friends, relatives and co-workers to sign. Then send the sheets to The Rocky Point Foundation, c/o Beacon Communications, 1944 Warwick Avenue, Warwick RI 02889. Signing people up in this manner will have the added advantage of giving those who do not use the internet, as well as those who do but have not yet been exposed to our website, the opportunity to support our cause.
Share your thoughts, memories, photos, videos. If you would like to share your thoughts and memories about Rocky Point, either enter them on the Friends signup form or email them. Photos and videos can be attached to your email. View what others say.
Thank you for your interest in The Rocky Point Foundation. If you have any questions about the Foundation or its mission, or if you have other ideas about Rocky Point or how you might help, please let us know.
Check us out on Facebook:
Links. For more information about Rocky Point go to:
The Providence Library’s historical archives on Rocky Point: http://www.provlib.org/resources/books/ricollection/rockypoint.html
Overview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Point_Amusement_Park
Memories, photos and more http://www.joenisil.com/rockypoint/index.htm
“You must be this tall” -- the movie http://www.rockypointmovie.com/index.html
Memories and comments, a blog http://rockypointpark.org/