EDITOR’S NOTE: On Saturday, May 17, the Providence Eye hosted “Providence Port Day,” a free, day-long gathering featuring tours, talks, and seminars related to the Port of Providence.
More than 150 people attended the event, which was based at the Johnson & Wales University Harborside Campus, and included guided excursions – on foot, bus, and boat – into the surrounding areas. For this week’s Readers Voices section, we wanted to share some of their words.
Steve Ahlquist (in a post on his Substack, RIFuture.news):
“Saturday was Providence Port Day. It began with bus tours of ProvPort with the management company Waterson Terminal Services, a trip 300 feet underground with the Narragansett Bay Commission, tours of Collier Park, and an introduction to the public access points people can use to get to the ocean in Providence. After lunch, there were opportunities to attend three of the 18 workshops, focused on different aspects of the Port’s history and future, including serious discussions about the industry’s health and environmental impacts on the local community.
It was an excellent event, and I hope they hold it again next year.”
Penny Lederer:
“Just wanted to give you a huge round of applause for organizing the ProvPort tour this past Saturday. It was well organized, informative and enjoyable. The food was surprisingly good too! 10/10 all round.
Many thanks to you, the tour guides, speakers and everyone else involved for the hard work, time and effort put into a behind the scenes day in Providence.”
Ben McOsker:
“Since I first saw digging in 2003 or so at West Fountain Street I was fascinated by this massive 300 foot hole that would address issues from rainwater overflowing the sewer system into Narragansett Bay. When I saw Port Day was coming I was pretty psyched but had no idea it would intersect with my desire to get to the bottom of this 300 foot pit.
I had some time after I dropped my son off at Little League practice, walked into the Visitor’s Center, got a quick overview and put on a hard hat. The guide was super knowledgeable!
As the overflow treatment tunnel is 33 stories down, I opened the door and descended down and down and down. Past the bedrock, moss and calcification everywhere. Into massive rooms with pipes the size of Cadillacs, pumps louder than metal bands – all helping the bay stay clean.
So excited to finally see what lay at the bottom of the hole. And then I climbed 33 flights to the top. I should have taken the elevator.”
Nora Barre:
“It was so amazing!!!
I’ve done a few segmented tours before but never one that encompasses the entire port.
We drive past the port every day, and see the towering ships going in and out of the bay. I was amazed by the acres it covers, the thousands of jobs it supports, and the businesses it sustains. It’s an incredible connection of how Rhode Island is woven into the global economy.”
Andrew Middleton:
“I got to see the CSO [Combined Sewer Overflow] tunnels and had an amazing time. True science fiction level infrastructure doing massively beneficial work for the community and ecosystem, all controlled from a James Bond villain lair 300 feet below the surface. Extremely cool!”
Julia Horwitz:
“Port Day was a wonderful way to meet new neighbors and get up close and personal with a part of our city that previously felt very mysterious to me. I walked away from the day with a much deeper understanding of the history of the port and the work ahead of us to fight for health, safety, and equity in Providence!”
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