Hoping to reverse a postwar exodus of industry from Providence for suburban sites providing easy access for cars and trucks, the City of Providence began planning in 1954 for eminent domain acquisition of the 60-acre West River neighborhood of Providence, identified as “blighted” in earlier planning studies. This industrial area would replicate in an urban setting the idea of suburban “industrial parks,” with access to highways as well as railroad service. Planning for the proposed “north-south highway” (I-95) had begun by this time and the City was aware that the highway right-of-way was going to eliminate industrial areas in use since the 19th century. Such an exodus was expected to have a significant impact on tax revenue and jobs.

The Providence Redevelopment Agency (PRA) took title to the area in January 1957. Demolition of the 508 commercial, residential, and ecclesiastical buildings (including Immaculate Conception Church) in the neighborhood soon followed. From demolition of this dense, residential area would emerge by 1954 a new street pattern centered on a U-shaped access road and fourteen industrial parcels, the most conspicuous of which would house the nation’s first fully-automated US Post Office (Intelex/McGuire), opened in 1959. Apart from the highly-specialized design of the post office, the industrial buildings planned and built according to PRA standards were predominantly single-story, steel-frame buildings clad in brick and glass and sited on a roughly twenty-foot setback. Appropriate landscaping was required and 500 square feet of automobile parking was required for each 1,000 square feet of industrial space. The area still bears the distinct look of the industrial park designed in the 1950s. Despite some changes in surface treatments, most of the approximately fourteen parcels retain the scale and general appearance of the original design. A new medical building has been sited at the southwest corner of the park.

Bibliography:

“Project Description in Detail.” Providence Journal (20 May 1956): 1

“A Community’s Demise.” Providence Sunday Journal (18 November 1956): S3:6

“Urban Renewal: Industrial Development Started in Providence.” Engineering News-Record (7 February 1957): 25

“West River Industrial Park Project Completed.” Evening Bulletin (21 January 1964): 19

West River Industrial Park. Providence Redevelopment Agency, 1956

“West River Industrial Park” vertical file folder, RI Collection, Providence Public Library

–Providence’s Recent Past (2010), a PPS map by Ned Connors.

Last edited March 26, 2025 by Elisabeth Brown