Inside an old, refurbished Texaco Station on Westminster Street in Providence lies the West Broadway Neighborhood Association.
It's arguably the most aggressive and most engaged group of its kind in Rhode Island.
"Our neighborhood has that sense of community that so many people are missing and I think people relish that," said Kari Lang of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association.
The neighborhood has just about everything going for it. It has great Victorian architecture, reasonable rents, great places to eat and is walking distance from downtown.
However, it doesn't have a place to shop for locally grown natural and organic food.
That's about to change though.
Across the street from the WBNA, construction began earlier this year on a three-story structure. On the first floor is the future home of a grocery store featuring locally grown natural and organic food.
"Right now if we want to do our weekly shopping, we have to drive out of the neighborhood," Lang said.
Lang said the second and third floors will be affordable housing for developmentally disabled tenants.
The whole package, $1.5 million worth, was made possible with grants from United Way and, among other groups, Spurwink RI that supports those people with disabilities.
The building doesn't yet have a tenant for the grocery store, but there are incentives for interested parties.
Lang said there's 1,900 square feet available for the store and an additional 500 square feet of storage in the basement.
She said there's refrigeration and freezer equipment, and money for professional studies to put together a business plan. Lang said there are also solar panels for power and money to advertise the store.
"We call it our 'SWELL' project -- Shop, Work, Eat, Live Local. And we are determined to make this happen for the neighborhood and the community," Lang said.
Interested parties should submit their proposals to run the grocery store by the end of October.
Lang said whichever proposal is chosen should be ready to be in business by January 2011.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement