Tonight: Historic North Main Street

Anyone who spends a little time around the far end (heading toward Pawtucket) of North Main Street in Providence can't help being struck by the contrast between cool, small businesses, like the Sandwich Hut and Javaspeed Scooters, and the sense of untapped potential in the area.

The good news is that a newish group, the North Main Street Project, hopes to reinvigorate the area, and it's got some useful programming, including a lively discussion set for tonight:

Event: Public workshop on the history of North Main Street

Date and time: Tuesday, Sept. 23, 7 to 9 p.m.

Location: Carriage House Theater, 9 Duncan Ave

For more info: call Jonathan Howard, 331-2272

The North Main Street Project will host a workshop looking at North Main Street’s lively past as a vital center for sports and entertainment and as a retail destination on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 7PM at the Carriage House Theater, 9 Duncan Avenue. The workshop is free and open to the public.

Dr. Robert Cvornyek, the Chairman of the History Department at Rhode Island College will talk about the history of the Providence Steamrollers, a National Football League team which played its games on the site of the current Shaws Plaza at the northern end of the street. The Steamrollers won the NFL championship in 1928. Dr. Cvornyek will also introduce memories of the Celebrity Club on North Main where the greats of the Jazz Age played.

Mack Woodward of the Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission will outline the evolution of North Main as a commercial and residential center over the years.

We welcome historical questions, answers and memorabilia from anyone with memories or knowledge of North Main Street’s past. We are honored to have J Hogue, proprietor of the fabulous Art in Ruins web site, which catalogs dozens of Rhode Island’s vanished and threatened cultural treasures.

This look back to a livelier North Main is the first in a series of workshops intended to develop knowledge, interest and investment in North Main as a vital urban corridor. Each session will bring experts together with business owners, property owners, residents and other stakeholders to identify opportunities and build partnerships for future investment and action.