The $10 million approved by voters this month to purchase the former Rocky Point Amusement Park by no means seals the deal.
The bond – approved by 65 percent of voters – became just the first step in a lengthy journey to buy the land overlooking Narragansett Bay. The state now must persuade the U.S. Small Business Administration, which acts as a court-appointed receiver for the land, and a judge to accept its offer.
Then state officials need to cross their fingers. Because if a better offer comes along, law mandates the judge accept it.
It’s unclear what the 83-acre property in Warwick is worth. The state has yet to complete an updated appraisal, R.I. Department of Environmental Management Director Michael Sullivan said. (The DEM would control the land if the state purchases it.)
But there are signs that $10 million may not be enough. Rocky Point Foundation President John Howell said his group – which supports state ownership of the former amusement park – has been told by federal officials the state’s apparent starting bid and the price desired by creditors remain apart.
“The two numbers unfortunately don’t connect,” he said. “So there is a gap there.”
SBA Rhode Island District Director Mark Hayward declined to say how much creditors – including the federal government – want for the land, citing the sensitivity of potential negotiations.
In the past, bids have reached far higher than $10 million. In 2007, developer Nicholas Cambio and a Florida-based investment consortium won an auction to purchase the land for $17.1 million. But the deal fell through, one of many development plans that ultimately fizzled.
Hayward said his agency is open to working with any potential buyer – including the state – on a plan to sell the land it has held since 2000, five years after the park closed.
“We are happy to entertain any and all proposals,” Hayward said.
The state and city, however, hold at least a few bargaining chips. Warwick purchased 41 acres of the former the amusement park in 2008 for $4 million. That land sits between the 83 acres up for sale and Narragansett Bay. Sullivan and Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian said that puts the city in a position to negotiate with a potential developer about who can access the city land and if stormwater runoff can cross the property.
The city is also owed $1.87 million in back taxes and interest on the property, according to the tax collector’s office. Avedisian said the city could waive some or all of those taxes for the state, essentially giving it an almost $2 million break on the property.
And then there are the 204,919 voters that approved the $14.7 million bond question, which also included $3.2 million to buy the former Shooters nightclub property in Providence and $1.5 million for repairs at Fort Adams in Newport. Every community in the state approved the question, except Woonsocket, where it fell short by 36 votes.
“You’ve got over 60 percent of the public saying they want this,” said Howell, who also owns the Warwick Beacon newspaper. “To me it gives political capital to our elected officials to go to bat for us on this issue.”
Howell, the city and state would like to see the land become a public park. In May, DEM drafted a conceptual plan for the property that included the creation of walking trails, an outdoor amphitheater, an observation tour and a structure housing a small hotel, restaurant, museum and bait shop.
The agency stressed the concept remains just that – an idea. Sullivan said any final plan would come after the state purchased the property and public discussions, and after Gov.-elect Lincoln D. Chafee, a former U.S. senator and Warwick mayor, takes his seat in January.
Part of the discussions may involve recruiting a private developer, Sullivan said. That developer could construct a restaurant or marina or the like, making the site more attractive to the public while providing seed money the state lacks. Plus, a private developer would pay taxes on his building and business, providing revenue to the city it would otherwise be unable to collect from state-controlled land.
The DEM may also seek partnerships as it assumes control of the former Shooters nightclub property at Fox Point. Visible from Interstate 195, the building has sat vacant since the R.I. Department of Transportation purchased the property in 2000 as a staging area for the Iway project. Neighborhood groups long have requested the state keep the waterfront property, but the DOT said it needed to sell it to recoup the costs of buying it.
The $3.2 million approved by voters should satisfy those needs, said DOT spokesman Bryan Lucier. Control of the property will shift to DEM.
Sullivan said public discussions will help shape the property’s future. But the agency is sensitive to concerns of nearby residents, who have argued a towering condominium complex or similar development would be improper for the area.
“I think we have an appreciation for their thinking,” Sullivan said.
One group, Head of the Bay Gateway, has proposed a low-lying facility with event space, a public marina, a ferry terminal and a shoreline diner.
“We don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but we do know there’s not going to be that pressure on DOT to sell it, which is a huge success,” said Head of the Bay Gateway co-chair David Riley.
The group itself is not interested in becoming a developer of the site, Riley said. Instead, the organization would like to help facilitate a private-public partnership.
Head of the Bay was among a handful of organizations that urged lawmakers to combine the Shooters purchase with that of Rocky Point and the repairs to Fort Adams. Supporters said the combination helped draw support from people across the state who may have been wary to support something in just one city.
And for Avedisian, the vote showed many Rhode Islanders continue to hold fond memories of Rocky Point.
“The fact that it got approved overwhelmingly is a great testament that people feel … some personal connection to Rocky Point,” the mayor said. “We are hoping that we can move all of this forward very quickly.” •
