The city’s most distinctive gateway leads to the historic heart of the Italo-American community. The archway was designed by Albert Veri Associates and installed as a part of the area’s refurbishing during the first term of Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr, the city’s first Italian- American Mayor. This over-scaled sculpture of the Italian symbol for hospitality, the pine cone, is just too large to be whimsical. But like the schlocky and otherwise urbanistically incorrect pseudo-Victorian lighting fixtures and brick sidewalks installed at the same time, this reflects the ultimately compelling boisterousness that characterizes this lively precinct.
– 2003 Guide to Providence Architecture
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