One year after sounding alarms that it was teetering on the brink of insolvency, WaterFire Providence reports that it has surmounted past issues and is looking to resurrect plans to consolidate operations in a single location.

Perhaps no event is more emblematic of WaterFire’s resurrection than the recent lighting of the Tiber River in Rome. It was the first large-scale European WaterFire event and helps set in context just how captivating the WaterFire concept is, not that Rhode Island should need reminding of that fact.

WaterFire Providence brings 1 million people to the capital city every year, and is an important piece of making the moniker, Creative Capital, an accurate reflection of Providence’s identity.

But as gratifying as it must be to WaterFire founder and Artistic Director Barnaby Evans to see his vision realized in Rome, the important thing is that the community responded to the nonprofit’s crisis with increased fundraising. The response was so strong, in fact, that WaterFire is readying a capital campaign to help solidify its recent gains.

It’s good to see such a worthy venture getting the TLC it deserves. •