Park Theater in Cranston no longer option McKee’s Learn365 grant program

CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — Park Theater in Cranston is no longer an option for Gov. Dan McKee’s Learn365 grant program, according to Mayor Ken Hopkins.

Hopkins said that he met with Cranston’s superintendent, school committee, some City Council members, and the executive director of CCAP on Aug. 28 to discuss McKee’s program.

The purposed of that meeting, he said, was to “identify potential sites or facilities to house a community center” using 100% of the federal funds for the program.

Hopkins said to create these programs, they plan on gathering public input to have a “strong focus on the true needs of our community.”

He said the result of the meeting was that “this group unanimously requested” he explore different options for the use of the over $6 million federal grant.

The mayor said he had to figure out the “feasibility of the potential acquisition” of the Park Theater building, the Arlington Elementary School building, building a new building on city owned land, and potentially buying land and building a new facility.

Hopkins emphasized that he never recommended or proposed the Park Theater.

The city assessed the theater’s building to calculate how much it would cost to improve the facility to turn it into an “active and vibrant” community center, said the Republican.

He said it would cost about $3 million to improve the building.

“Due to this substantial cost, and any cost of acquisition, the Park Theater does not seem to be a practical option for a community center,” said Hopkins.

While it wasn’t a proposed, Hopkins said he’s looking into converting the Arlington school into the community center.

“I need to be clear, once again, I have not and still am not proposing or recommending any facility until proper due diligence is performed and shared with the public and key stakeholders that were part of that [Aug. 28] meeting,” he added.

Learn365 programs include education, health monitoring, and jobs.