Food Hall | Union Station | Providence

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New England Born & Raised

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The Capital Center Commission has approved plans for RI's first food hall. It would be a 30,000sf space located in the lower level of the former Union Station main building in the space that had long been occupied by Capital Grille before it moved to the nearby Waterplace Park. It would have outdoor space and be connected to both Waterplace Park and Kennedy Plaza/Ice Rink by the already existing tunnels.


Plans for R.I.’s first food hall approved by Capital Center Commission
pbn.com

Plans for R.I.'s first food hall approved by Capital Center Commission

PROVIDENCE – In what's billed as the first of its kind for Rhode Island, a food hall featuring a variety of foods and vendors is coming to the heart of downtown as part of a plan that was unanimously approved by the Capital Center Commission on Wednesday. Marsella Development Corp. said it’s...
pbn.com pbn.com
 
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Some rendering below. The interiors are from the Vision3 website. I'm not sure how current those are.
(edited for dupe images)


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The food hall would be in the building to the left in the photo. It would also include outdoor space in the plaza in front of it. The tunnel (gray open arch) to the ice rink is on the left with the arched tunnel (below Memorial Blvd) to Waterplace Park directly opposite it on the right. The Omni Hotel and Courtyard Marriott are in the background (L to R) with the Providence Place Mall barely visible through the trees.

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Talking about auto-centric infrastructure leading to abysmal pedestrian connectivity (and just plain crappy urbanism):

Here is the view looking westbound on Memorial Blvd. very near the proposed food hall site. As we can see, Memorial Blvd. perfectly amputates (and I say "amputate" in the worst possible way), the Waterfire lagoon/amphitheater from the surface lot, where the food hall would be built, on the left.

In normal times, Waterfire activates that lagoon space wonderfully (though seasonally, of course). So you have hundreds of folks exiting Waterfire, after this food hall gets built, and some of them want to go there presumably... and yet, unless the pedestrian connectivity is enhanced, they'll have to play Frogger on Memorial Blvd, given that, as it stands now, the two crosswalks bracketed this area are spaced 950 feet apart.... that's 3 bleeping football fields! :mad:
 
DBM said:
Talking about auto-centric infrastructure leading to abysmal pedestrian connectivity (and just plain crappy urbanism):

Here is the view looking westbound on Memorial Blvd. very near the proposed food hall site. As we can see, Memorial Blvd. perfectly amputates (and I say "amputate" in the worst possible way), the Waterfire lagoon/amphitheater from the surface lot, where the food hall would be built, on the left.

In normal times, Waterfire activates that lagoon space wonderfully (though seasonally, of course). So you have hundreds of folks exiting Waterfire, after this food hall gets built, and some of them want to go there presumably... and yet, unless the pedestrian connectivity is enhanced, they'll have to play Frogger on Memorial Blvd, given that, as it stands now, the two crosswalks bracketed this area are spaced 950 feet apart.... that's 3 bleeping football fields! :mad:
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Very few people choose to go up the stairs and cross all the lanes of Memorial Blvd to get between Waterplace Park and the Union Station complex. There is a far better and less stenuous option with the large and wide tunnel with skylights letting natural light in that connects the two places at the same level. The arched tunnel is visible in this photo to the left of Waterplace Park near the center of the photo. The glass skylights are above it protruding out from the the area between the lanes of Memorial Blvd. There is also another tunnel under the Union Station's main building which further makes a connection right out to the ice rink at Kennedy Plaza.

Providence has several pedestrian friendly designed corridors such as the two tunnels mentioned above. The entire riverwalk which extends from Providence Place Mall (PPM) to the Point Street Bridge and also includes the new pedestrian river bridge is such an example. The glass overpass over Memorial Blvd which connects the PPM to the Omni (visible in photo just right of top center) and the overpass over West Exchange that connects the Omni to the RI Convention Center and Dunkin Donuts Center (DDC) are other pedestrian friendly corridors that are entirely indoors and great for inclement weather. You can basically go from across the street from the Statehouse (Francis and Gaspee) all the way to the DDC box office at LaSalle Square where Sabin, Broadway, and Empire meet indoors which is great in cold and inclement weather. There is also another great passage between JWU buildings that connects Weybosset and Pine. All of these (and many more) along with the city's compactness make Providence one of the most walk-able pedestrian friendly cities in the US.


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Tunnel under memorial Blvd in the center where arch is located
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JWU Passage
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Meeting Street Steps
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New England Born & Raised said:
Very few people choose to go up the stairs and cross all the lanes of Memorial Blvd to get between Waterplace Park and the Union Station complex. A large and wide tunnel with skylights letting natural light in connects the two places at the same level. The arched tunnel is visible in this photo to the left of Waterplace Park. The galls skylights are above it protruding out from the the area between the lanes of Memorial Blvd. There is also another tunnel under the Union Station's main building which further makes a connection right out to the ice rink at Kennedy Plaza.

Providence has several pedestrian friendly designed corridors such as the two tunnels mentioned above. The entire riverwalk which extends from Providence Place Mall (PPM) to the Point Street Bridge and also includes the new pedestrian river bridge is such an example. The glass overpass over Memorial Blvd which connects the PPM to the Omni (visible in photo just right of top center) and the overpass over West Exchange that connects the Omni to the RI Convention Center and Dunkin Donuts Center (DDC) are another pedestrian friendly corridor that is entirely indoors and great for inclement weather. You can basically go from across the street from the Statehouse (Francis and Gaspee) all the way to the DDC box office at LaSalle Square where Sabin, Broadway, and empire meet. There is also another great passage between JWU buildings that connects Weybosset and Pine. All of these (and many more) along with the city's compactness make Providence one of the most walk-able pedestrian friendly cities in the US.
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Ah, I forgot about the tunnel! Good reminder. I walk through this area all the time, so for me (needless to say), it's personal, in terms of how I loathe what Memorial Blvd. does. As you mention, the Downtown street grid south and east of there is very pedestrian friendly, as is College Hill as you point out, etc.

It's just that one area around PP Mall, Amtrak station, Memorial Blvd, RI Convention Center, and the IGT building that is very pedestrian unfriendly--even with the skybridge spanning PP Mall to the Omni Hotel which you reference...
 
The worst least friendly pedestrian intersection is where Memorial Blvd and Francis St meet. It has many lanes and basically includes the on and off ramps to Routes 95 and 10. Planners specifically built the glass overpass above and have no pedestrian crossing designated on that side of Francis Street to address this.
 
New England Born & Raised said:
The surface parking lot is still far better than the elevated railroad tracks that once occupied this space and cut the city in half for some 90 years. Thankfully the tracks are underground through the downtown area today.

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I 100% agree from an aesthetic standpoint. Though I don't necessarily view the current Francis St, I95 and 95 ramps, and Memorial BLVD as a drastic improvement. And the transit geek in me wishes that there was enough rail travel in/out of the city to justify this large of a station and this many tracks.
 
New England Born & Raised said:
The worst least friendly pedestrian intersection is where Memorial Blvd and Francis St meet. It has many lanes and basically includes the on and off ramps to Routes 95 and 10. Planners specifically built the glass overpass above and have no pedestrian crossing designated on that side of Francis Street to address this.
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Exactly. The lack of sidewalk right here is insane. I appreciate the backstory that you supply here, but, every time I walk around here (which is frequently), it exasperates me endlessly...
 
This place now has a name. In an ode to its home in the former Union Station terminal, it will be called TRACK 15. Hoped for opening in late summer 2024.

The food hall is set to have a seafood and raw bar concept from Dune Brothers, a regional Mexican cuisine from Chef Maria Meza and her family at Dolores and burgers and more from There There. The development corporation said there will also be two Italian concepts from Kevin O’Donnell, chef and owner of Giusto and Mother Pizzeria in Newport.

I hope that the passageway from Waterplace Park to Kennedy Plaza (by the ice rink) will be a part of this project and be open all the time. This long existing route between the former Capital Grille and Bar Louie spaces has been closed for over a year during construction.


turnto10.com

Anticipated Union Station food hall unveils name, food vendors

Marsella Development Corporation announced that the new Providence food hall in the historic Union Station building will be named Track 15.
turnto10.com turnto10.com
 
Sweet!

I guess Smiley killed plans for work to Kennedy Plaza and around the Waterfire basin, which included another, over-the-street link to this area?
 
Still slow progress at the food hall in the former Capitol Grille location. This photo was taken today from the tunnel under Memorial Blvd looking south toward the old Union Station. The area around it is now all fenced off.
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I walked around here last week and it doesn't look like anything's happening in there. I can't imagine a summer 2024 opening is realistic.
 
Lrfox said:
I walked around here last week and it doesn't look like anything's happening in there. I can't imagine a summer 2024 opening is realistic.
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Went by there this weekend and there still appears to be little construction progress. Outside area is still all fenced off. The news articles from November 2023 that announced the Track 15 name along with some of the expected vendors listed Summer of 2024 as the projected open date. That appears to be way off.
 
New England Born & Raised said:
Went by there this weekend and there still appears to be little construction progress. Outside area is still all fenced off. The news articles from November 2023 that announced the Track 15 name along with some of the expected vendors listed Summer of 2024 as the projected open date. That appears to be way off.
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Yeah, I noticed the same thing. I've actually seen a few workers going in/out, but nothing that looks serious. I'd be surprised if it opened before 2025.
 
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