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Everyone has a dream for Rocky Point

John Howell
Posted 9/1/15

Where better to get a read on what people think of the future of Rocky Point than the park?

That was my plan Sunday. Stop at the park, maybe even take Ollie for company, and hear what people had …

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This Side Up

Everyone has a dream for Rocky Point

Posted

Where better to get a read on what people think of the future of Rocky Point than the park?

That was my plan Sunday. Stop at the park, maybe even take Ollie for company, and hear what people had to say.

I didn’t have to go far. In fact, I never made it beyond the gate.

As the Rocky Point Foundation discovered soon after voters approved funding for state acquisition of the park during a public forum at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, there’s a strong attachment to the park and an almost endless stream of ideas as to how it should be developed. There was a lot of support for bringing back an amusement park, if not to its former grandeur then with a reduced number of rides along with a venue to buy clamcakes and enjoy the summer breezes over a meal.

Now that the property has been cleared and the only reminders of its past as an amusement park are the stanchions to the Skyliner, the arch and the swing ride tower, would people feel differently?

I started my inquiry with a couple riding a pair of Harleys. They were both finishing cups of New England lemonade.

“You ask me, they should bring it back,” said the woman. Sunday was her first visit to the park in about 40 years.

I expected she would have plenty of fellow believers, but that wasn’t the case.

Don Dalton, in line to get lemonade for his wife, daughter and her husband and his grandkids, thought some rides would be fun but they should be for kids. He was opposed to permitting alcoholic beverages in the park. (They are not permitted now.) Naturally, as seems to be the case with those who have lived the history of the park, Dalton shared a memory.

“Our kids saw their first concert here,” he said.

His other suggestions were more picnic benches and parking. His daughter, Sheri Hedquist, is especially pleased with access to the beach.

Frankie Joe, who was operating the New England Lemonade truck, sees a lot of park traffic and is impressed by the numbers of handicapped people visiting the park. He said he sees people with walkers, canes and wheelchairs and thinks vehicular access to the park would help this group of people.

Seemingly, as if on queue, Leo Nadeau, his wife Cecile and their daughter, Gail Saborio, were leaving the park. Gail pushed her mother in a wheelchair. With the paved walkway, Gail thought the park accessible to the handicapped, although her father said he wouldn’t have been able to push the chair. Gail likes the thought of paths and a path in the woods.

“I don’t think every space should be for all people,” she said.

Makayla Ferri, who visits the park at least twice a week, said she attended this summer’s movies in the park series sponsored by the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce. She thought a playground for younger kids would be a good addition. She likes the family atmosphere of the park and believes that should be encouraged.

Robin Monahan wants to keep the park “green,” yet she favors forms of development that could generate revenue for the upkeep of the park. She doesn’t think there should be permanent buildings but can imagine rental tents for limited times where people could hold private events such as a wedding reception. Other suggestions include community gardens and a farmer’s market. She said her biggest memory of the park is the salt water pool, although she doesn’t see that reopening.

Jan French and Geoff Tapper, who were finishing up a walk with their dogs Miles and Louie, disagreed over use of the park. Labeling herself a “liberal” and Geoff a “conservative,” she is all for keeping it open and as it is.

“It’s a waste of space the way it is,” he countered.

They agreed the park is a great place to visit and walk. And they agreed to share their frozen lemonade with their two dogs.

As for what the state plans to do with the park, no decisions are likely to be made soon. According to a recent interview with Lisa Primiano of the Department of Environmental Management, the agency is in the process of developing a request for proposals for a park master plan. The DEM budget includes a $200,000 allocation for a plan.

No question, whatever plan is proposed, there’ll be plenty of suggestions. Everybody has an opinion on the future of Rocky Point.

Comments

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  • mthompsondc

    When I visited the park recently, overhead many folks debating where certain rides &c. had been located. Would be a simple thing to put a dozen or so numbered markers in the ground at key spots -- the Merry-go-Round, the bumper cars, where the line for the Flume began -- and have a list posted (maybe at more than one location) indicating what used to be at each number.

    Saturday, September 5, 2015 Report this

  • ScottJ794

    @Mark Thompson. The problem with that idea is that the markers would limit the uses for the land. They'd be in the way. I think we are better served to accept and enjoy the park as it is rather than turn it into a memorial of what it was.

    Friday, November 6, 2015 Report this