Boards & Commissions - Capital Center Commission

Overview

The Capital Center Commission was created by state law (PL 1981 Chapter 332 and amended by PL 1983 Chapter 167 and by PL 1994 Chapter 19) and by city ordinance (Section 2-361 through 365).The Commission is charged to adopt, implement and administer a plan of development for the Capital Center Special Development District, as provided for by the Rhode Island Special Development District Act (RIGL 45-24.4). This area is a 79 acre redevelopment in the heart of downtown Providence.These former rail yards now consist of public parks, river walks, a new train station on the Amtrak northeast corridor, and a mix of development from Providence Place mall a 1.4 million square foot downtown mall, Center Place a 225 unit luxury rental development to Citizens Bank headquarters a 13 story 234,000 square foot office tower and several new projects including the soon to open GTECH World Headquarters, a 210,000 square foot office building and 193 unit residential condominium.

The Design and Development Plan

The plan was completed by Skidmore, Owens and Merrill in 1979 and has been updated periodically to refine the development concept and to reflect and accommodate changes such as the river relocation project.The objectives of the plan are:

To create new and marketable commercial land without demolishing existing downtown structures in order to attract major new users who might not otherwise locate in the Capital City.
To enhance vehicular access to the project area, the State House and downtown.
To create an ordered sense of public spaces.The District was intentionally created as a high density urban district where large contiguous structures would define the diversity of space.
To create a visual and physical linkage between downtown and the State House, emphasizing the radial views to the State House Dome.