Providence, Rhode Island is the host city for HLAA’s Convention 2012 – read all about this lovely and historic city. This page is also available for download - About Providence [PDF].

Overview

Providence is the only U.S. city to be named “One of the Top Ten Up-and-Coming Travel Destinations in the World” by the Wall Street Journal. Providence boasts a vibrant arts community, world renowned restaurants and an endless array of theatrical performances and sporting events. For those who want to experience all of downtown Providence, the Convention Center is attached, via a sky-bridge, to The Westin Providence, the Providence Place Mall, and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The city’s compact size and convenient location make it easy to get to but hard to forget.

Convention 2012 will take place at the Rhode Island Convention Center which is connected to The Westin Providence (see more information about booking your room on the main Convention page).

• Rhode Island Convention Center
  The award-winning Rhode Island Convention Center (RICC) is conveniently located in the heart of downtown Providence, just off Interstate 95.  It is connected via skybridge to the Dunkin' Donuts Center, the Westin Providence  Hotel, and a parking garage. The RICC is a multi-purpose facility, capable of hosting meetings, conventions, trade shows, consumer shows, exhibits, banquets, and other special events.

  The Rhode Island Convention Center is located at:
  1 Sabin Street
  Providence, RI 02903-1801
  401.458.6000

• The Westin Providence
  Connected to the Rhode Island Convention Center and the new Providence Place Mall, and located in downtown Providence, The Westin Providence boasts an excellent location. Within walking distance of many gourmet restaurants and historic attractions, guests can experience all that the city has to offer. With a heated indoor pool, fully equipped Capital Club fitness center, and our delicious Centro Restaurant, The Westin has everything you need to relax and renew. Relax in one of our Heavenly Beds®, which come standard in each guest room. Guests will enjoy spacious accommodations with beautiful city views and oversized bathrooms. Try the new WestinWORKOUT® room and exercise in the privacy of your own room!

  Connected by skybridge to the RICC, The Westin Providence is located at:
  One Exchange Street
  Providence, Rhode Island 02903
  401.598.8290

History

Providence was founded in 1636 by renegade preacher Roger Williams, who was forced to flee Massachusetts because of religious persecution. Williams purchased land from the Narragansett Indians and started a new settlement with a policy of religious and political freedom. He named his new home “Providence,” in thanks for God for protecting him during his exile from Massachusetts.

Easily accessible by water, Providence became a major New World seaport. During the Revolutionary War, Providence's craftspeople and merchants supplied goods to the Continental and French armies. Ever the entrepreneurs, Providence businesses were financing expeditions to the Mediterranean, Middle East and Far East by 1781. With trade booming, the city grew and flourished. Traditional wooden homes began yielding to ornate brick mansions.

The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 wove a path of death and destruction through the city, with a tidal-wave like storm surge and wind gusts of more than 100 miles per hour. The storm's effect on Rhode Island was so severe, that earthquake instruments 3,000 miles away recorded it on seismographs. In 1954, Hurricane Carol caught Rhode Island by surprise and Providence suffered the greatest amount of concentrated damage - upwards of $41 million. Gusts of wind, at a rate of 72 to 100 miles per hour, blew into Providence, while portions of the downtown area sat under eight feet of water.

In the late 1970s, the City began to upgrade the infrastructure of the neighborhoods, downtown and commercial districts. For decades, the world's widest bridge had obscured the Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket Rivers, two narrow, but significant waterways which snake through the city of Providence and converge to become the Providence River, the head of Narragansett Bay. In the 1990s, the two rivers running through downtown were uncovered and moved.

Today, those two rivers are edged by cobblestone walkways, flanked by park benches, trees and flowering plants, and bisected by a series of graceful Venetian bridges connecting downtown Providence to the city's East Side. In keeping with this old-world flair, visitors may glide lazily through the waterways in one of the city's gilded gondolas. The centerpiece of this revitalization is WaterPlace Park, which boasts a stone-stepped amphitheater for summer concerts and serves as the starting point for Providence's world-renowned Waterfire, a multi-sensory art installation of more than 100 dancing bonfires that wind along the Providence River.

Providence also boasts a flourishing cultural and academic community. The Tony Award-winning Trinity Repertory Company and the Providence Performing Arts Center are not only historic landmarks, but also feature Broadway musicals, children's performances, popular seasonal ballets, opera, plays and musical concerts. Students and alumni of Brown University, Providence College and Rhode Island College bring vitality to the city's intellectual life. The famous Rhode Island School of Design lends the city a hipster cool, with many young artists coming to study and staying to begin their careers. The world's largest culinary educator, Johnson & Wales University, has had a tremendous impact on Providence's much-lauded restaurant scene.

The Outdoors

Nationally recognized for its outstanding design, WaterPlace Park is the focal point of Providence's revitalized downtown. This four-acre urban park surrounding a tidal basin features an amphitheater, landscaped terraces, boat landings, a clock tower and an outstanding restaurant. The river is edged by cobble-stoned pedestrian walkways, park benches, trees and flowering plants.

A series of Venetian bridges connects downtown Providence to the city's historic East Side. From here you can ride a water taxi down Providence's redesigned rivers, stroll the scenic riverwalk, or idle in the gazebo and enjoy the view. WaterPlace Park is also the site of special events such as outdoor concerts and one of the best views for the acclaimed Waterfire.

Cited by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of America's premier urban parks, Roger Williams Park was designed by Horace Cleveland, noted American landscape architect. With more than 430 acres, the Park is comprised of waterways, walks, outdoor gardens, a Carousel Village, Museum of Natural History and Planetarium, the magnificent Temple to Music and the park's crown jewel, Roger Williams Park Zoo. The Carousel Village features a vintage carousel, pony rides, a themed miniature golf course and kiddie go-boats. The Tennis Center has Rhode Island's only clay courts available for public use.

The boathouse has paddle-boats and mini-speed boats. The newly constructed Botanical Center provides an enviable evergreen oasis.

A tiny jewel of a park on Providence's East Side, Prospect Terrace is the burial place of Rhode Island Founder Roger Williams and boasts a city view nonpareil. Located on Congdon Street, the park is also home to an iconic statue of the Roger Williams.

India Point Park is currently transitioning from outdoor afterthought to an architectural focal point. An 18-acre city park overlooking Narragansett Bay, the park is undergoing a fantastic new re-design and improvement under the umbrella of the city's I-Way public works project. Bike paths, playgrounds and waterfront views sparkle amidst lush lawns and a new pedestrian bridge.

Parks with rolling green hills, a botanical center that's an oasis of green in the dead of winter, Riverwalks with kayaks and gondolas sharing space - Providence has plenty to catch your eye and keep your attention.

Arts and Culture

Providence - "the Creative Capital" - is highly regarded for its thriving art scene. Home to one of the nation's best art schools, the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the RISD Museum of Art houses more than 80,000 works of art, ranging from Greek sculpture to French Impressionist paintings, Chinese terracotta to contemporary multimedia art.

The newly opened Chace Center has doubled the exhibition space at the museum, allowing RISD to lure international exhibits to Providence and display more of their vast collection. Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Jose Rafael Moneo, the Chace Center serves as an educational and cultural landmark in the cityscape.

The city's Arts and Entertainment District has bloomed, thanks largely to tax incentives offered to artists who chose to live and/or work in the area. The district, which includes several art galleries and performance spaces, is anchored by AS220, an alternative arts performance, studio and living space with edgy performances, readings and gallery exhibits. AS220 and other arts organizations have transformed downtown Providence into a dynamic destination.  The performing arts are also a big part of Providence culture, led by Tony Award-winning Trinity Repertory Company. Music lovers will enjoy the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Opera Providence. Theatergoers can enjoy performances from companies such as the Perishable Theater. For dance enthusiasts, there is the Festival Ballet Providence.

Explore Rhode Island

Planning to turn your trip to Convention 2012 a family vacation? Start here with an overview of places to go and things to do.

Exploring Newport, Rhode Island
An HLAA member and Newporter shares her favorite things to do there, and has included notes about hearing accessibility provided on tours. Acclaimed by Good Morning America as one of “America’s Most Beautiful Places,” Newport is famous for its beautiful mansions. Here are two websites: www.newportmansions.org/explore/the-breakers or www.newportmansions.org to get you started. Read more about Newport  [PDF].

Exploring Block Island
HLAA member Pat B. of Connecticut wrote to say, “Out-of-towners are really missing something special if they don’t get out on the ocean for a boat trip. There are two boat rides I know of (I'm sure there are many more).  Perhaps people could go via a bus or rent a car on Sunday at the conclusion of the Convention. The Block Island Ferry, which offers a high-speed ferry and a traditional ferry, leaves from Point Judith. Block Island is 12 miles off the coast and President Clinton vacationed there during his presidency. Nature Conservancy has designated Block Island "One of the 12 last great places in the Western Hemisphere." Block Island is small and rustic, and has fun shops and seafood restaurants, bed and breakfast inns and a slower life.  It has taxis and plenty of bikes and mopeds to rent, but most of the shops are right off the ferry.  The beaches are very clean as the ocean water has not yet circulated on the U.S. coastline.  www.blockislandferry.com/ or www.blockislandinfo.com