Fogarty building slated to be knocked down

By Ana Bottary

abottary@abc6.com

@anabottary

What was once an iconic downtown structure, is now vacant. It is described as an eyesore by many downtown businesses. A local contractor is hoping to come in and revitalize the space, where the Fogarty building currently stands. No one is happier about this than Joshua Miller, co-owner of Trinity Brewhouse, located just a few hundred feet from the building.

"We’ve been here for 20 years. And now having it empty and kind of a blockade between us and the convention center, without any activity, has really been an impediment to the neighborhood,"says Miller.
 "It’s an eyesore empty. With plywood and broken glass and fence around it, it’s an eyesore,"he adds.

The building was named for former Rhode Island Congressman John Fogarty, a nationally recognized leader in health care legislation. The Procaccianti Group Inc. who is the current owner of the building, submitted a permit application to demolish it. Their new plan is to create an 8 story, 154 room Residence Inn hotel. It’s something the Providence Foundation says, will benefit the entire city.

"It will pay so much more in taxes, so this is a big win tax wise for the city. Potentially there is about 70 jobs there between the hotel and the ground floor retail, which is a big plus,"says Dan Baudouin, executive director of the Providence Foundation.

(c)WLNE-TV 2016