News
ARTICLE
Federal Investment Attracts Private
Investment in
Industrial
Historic Sites
Abstract:
This Research Note discusses why people are returning
to the Blackstone Valley, America’s industrial birthplace. Beginning in
1790, with cotton manufacturing, the Valley became the place to achieve
the “American Dream.” By the 1940s, industry was leaving. The Valley
went into an economic freefall, people moved on, and mill villages
decayed. In 1986, the National Park Service, with special legislation,
and the Valley’s historic resources, began to tell the story about this
special landscape. Using education, the Blackstone River is cleaner,
historic properties are being thoughtfully restored, and visitation is
growing. Private investment in the Valley is now 15 times the US
National Park Service investment.
Key words:
Federal Investment
Historic Sites
Blackstone River Valley
Private Investment in Tourism
Robert Billington, President
Blackstone Valley Tourism Council Inc
Chairman, Blackstone River Valley National Heritage
Corridor Commission
Blackstone Valley Visitor Center
175 Main Street
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 02860 USA
BVRI@AOL.COM
Introductory Footnote:
Robert Billington is a Certified Tour Professional. He
holds an MBA in Hospitality Administration from Johnson & Wales
University. He is the founder of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council,
a regional tourism planning, and development organization. He is
Chairman of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
Commission, and a member of the National Tour Association, the American
Bus Association, and the Travel Industry Association of America. He is a
third year doctoral student in the Educational Leadership Program at
Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He seeks to
improve the way tourism planning, and development is learned in the
United States.
Research Note
Federal Investment Attracts
Private Investment in Industrial Historic Sites
The Blackstone River Valley is unique. It played a
“seminal role in transforming New England, and America, from a colonial
landscape of farmlands and forests to one of riverside mills and urban
factories” (ntaonline, 2003). According to the US National Park Service,
the Blackstone Valley, is: “one of the Nation’s richest and best
preserved repositories of landscapes, structures and sites that recall a
neglected era of the American past: the age of industry” (CHLMP, 2001).
The Valley is situated in New England, 200 miles north of New York City,
40 miles south and west from Boston, Massachusetts and 10 miles north of
Providence, Rhode Island. It encompasses 2 states, 24 communities, and
is home to 450,000 people.
The Blackstone Valley takes its name from the Reverend William
Blackstone, the first European settler to make his home on the banks of
the river in 1635 (Boucher, 1986). The 45-mile long Blackstone flows
from Worcester, Massachusetts to the top of Narragansett Bay in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, dropping 450 feet along the way (CHLMP, 2001).
The Valley rose to prominence in 1790, when English
immigrant Samuel Slater built the first successful water-powered
cotton-spinning mill in America (SMHS, 2002). “More than any other
single event this…can be said to mark the birth of the American
Industrial Revolution, and the complete transformation of American life,
and character” (CHLMP, 2001). Slater was barely an adult when his work
in America served to sever the economic tie between America and England
making America economically, and politically free.
This unusually steep drop of the Blackstone provided
Slater, and his successors with the ability to harness the Blackstone
for waterpower (CHLMP, 2001). Because of his unique understanding of
manufacturing, and business, Slater went on to become known as the
Father of American Manufactures.
The Blackstone Valley had the technology, knowledge,
and ingenuity to capitalize on the energy of the river. Hundreds of
mills were built throughout the Blackstone Valley after Slater’s
success. These textile mills provided the underpinning for the United
States, to become a world economic leader. Immigrants flocked to the
Blackstone’s textile industry from every nation to create a new life.
After 150 years of aggressive growth, and prosperity,
the textile industry in the Blackstone Valley hit hard times. Companies
moved south, and the mills grew silent. Outdated technology, labor
troubles, and the climate were to blame (CHLMP, 2001). The region was
plagued with decaying mills, contaminated landscapes, a toxic river, and
plunging community morale. The textile industry that built America
eventually killed the Blackstone River, and devastated its environment.
The social turmoil, and restlessness in the United
States in the 1960s led to positive action along the Blackstone River.
In 1972 change began to emerge. The people of the Valley had enough of
their polluted river, and wanted to do something to bring it back to
when it ran clear. Leadership from volunteers, and support from Rhode
Island’s major newspaper, they organized under the banner, ZAP the
Blackstone, and built a 10,000-person cleanup project in September of
that year. This effort, which cleaned the river of trash, refrigerators,
washing machines, and thousands of tires, coincided with environmental
activism around the world (Providence Journal, 1972).
With the ZAP the Blackstone project taking hold of
people’s imaginations, plans for a cleaner community, and the idea of a
linear park along the river were born. By 1985, an effort to develop a
program to attract visitors to the Blackstone Valley was launched.
Although tourism development was laughable to many in Rhode Island
because of the past 200 years of environmental degradation in the
Valley, after five years the programs of the Blackstone Valley Tourism
Council began to work, and people became believers in this new industry.
The planning and development of tourism in the Blackstone Valley became
a priority in every community in the Valley. The idea of the Blackstone
Valley becoming a visitor destination was launched.
The former textile mills were seen as important places of heritage, and
key to the future of the Blackstone Valley. They were to become a
necessary part of a success story. “Tangible heritage, includes all
assets that have some physical embodiment of cultural values such as
historic towns, buildings, archaeological sites, cultural landscapes,
and cultural objects, or items of movable cultural property” (McKercher
& duCros, 2002). Some empty mills were being considered as places to
convert to living, and work places in the early 1980s.
It took years before the river’s natural life began to
show signs of recovery, and many more before it will be clean enough for
swimming, but the river regeneration has progressed. People were
considering a return to the river for purposes other than industry.
Tourism, historical preservation, and landscape planning were beginning
to work in unison. The first condominium mill-reuse project to be built
on the Blackstone River in the mid 1980s was Blackstone Landing in
Pawtucket. Collette Vacations, the oldest tour operator in America,
makes their high-tech world headquarters in a major portion of this
building employing hundreds.
Officials in the State of Rhode Island, and the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts knew that if the health of the river were
to be improved it would have to be accomplished in a different way; it
would have to be done across state jurisdictions. In the early 1980s the
two states petitioned the National Park Service to review the Blackstone
River Valley, and all of its historic, and cultural resources, to
determine any level of national significance. The idea of the creation
of a visitor destination had a greater chance of success if National
Recognition was achieved.
According to August R. Carlino, Chair of the Alliance
of National Heritage Areas:
Heritage development – the conservation of historical and cultural
resources, the protection of natural resources, the development of
tourism and community revitalization programs, along with the
establishment of education and interpretive projects – has become a
critical element in the economic strategies that are being crafted in
communities, cities and states across America (ANHA, 2002).
Congress in 1986, designated the Blackstone Valley a
National Heritage Corridor for the purposes of: “preserving, and
interpreting for the educational, and inspirational benefit of present,
and future generations the unique and significant contributions to our
national heritage of certain historic and cultural lands” (Public Law
99-647, November 10, 1986). All improvement, redevelopment, and
regeneration projects would remain in state, local, or private hands,
with the National Park Service lending leadership, technical assistance,
financial resources, and their imprimatur to the region.
Visions for significant change, and future success, had
to be made graphic, and clearly communicated so community; state, and
federal leaders could understand what was possible for the Blackstone
Valley. This was done through a call to action to develop community
driven plans; ones that could be implemented, and from which the
community would benefit. It was critical that residents shared a common
vision, a national vision. “Increasingly, it is recognized that cultural
heritage management needs to adopt a community wide or regional
perspective, rather than focusing on individual buildings or sites” (McKercher
& duCros, 2002).
Education on all levels of the community has brought
about change, both attitudinally, and financially. Since the creation of
the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, approximately
$21 million in federal funds have been invested in the Valley. These
funds have assisted 24 communities, and hundreds of projects in both
states. Each project leverages these federal funds, to tell the
Blackstone Valley National story.
The National Park Service funding has been key in
creating a high profile context for private investors. This federal
investment is beginning to shrink as a percent of what private investors
are investing in the historic resources of the Valley. Close to $300
million in private funds have been attracted to the riverfront in the
Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor. Most of these funds have
been invested in the last five years.
It took several years for change to be noticeable in
the Valley. The public investments in culture, heritage and land-use
planning are bringing improvements in quality of life along the
Blackstone River. The length of time to see change was to be expected.
Even though the end products of regional tourism
planning should include stimulation of tourism awareness, new
interagency governmental cooperation, greater public-private
collaboration, and identification of zones of greatest potential, seldom
does this process immediately result in brick-and-mortar new tourism
development (Gunn, 1994).
According to the planning documents of the National
Heritage Corridor, community-wide education is the way in which their
mission is being accomplished. “The Commission will focus on education,
support for recovery programs at the various governmental and grassroots
levels, and opportunities for the River to become a vital part of the
community and economic revitalization” (TNTY, 1999).
Businesses, and financial institutions are now
considering the Blackstone Valley a sound place to invest their money
and future. Private investors are following these public investments,
and their funds are spilling-over into the riverfront downtowns, that
are begging for revitalization dollars.
Some of the private investments in riverfront projects
in the National Heritage Corridor:
-
In Pawtucket the American Heritage River Building in
Pawtucket, purchased in 1999, has undergone a $4 million renovation to
office space.
-
Also in Pawtucket, reconstruction of the Green and
Daniels Mills in Pawtucket to condominiums and offices. $4 million
(est.)
-
Additionally in Pawtucket the construction of a
Holiday Inn Express Hotel on the Pawtucket River is ready to break
ground - $16 million construction
-
And in Pawtucket the $14 million Riverfront Lofts, a
live-work former textile mill condominium project is under
construction.
-
In Central Falls the Central Falls Landing is
underway with a projected $6 million private investment. (M. Cook,
personal communication, March, 2003)
-
In Cumberland a former textile mill adjacent to the
Blackstone Bike Path and Blackstone River is being converted to
market-rate housing at a cost of $25 million.
-
In Lincoln, Highland Falls, a former cotton mill, are
now riverfront condominiums, $5 million (est.) (S. Sheppard, personal
communication, March, 2003).
-
In Woonsocket, the former Narragansett Knitting Mills
is being developed as market-rate housing. A $1 million conversion.
(M. Presbilowitz, personal communication, March, 2003).
-
In North Smithfield, there are three riverfront
projects in early stages that are valued at $25 million.
-
In East Providence planning at the former Ocean State
Steel Company is underway with a $200 million conversion to housing,
offices and retail space.
-
In Sutton Massachusetts a $45 million river view
condominium construction project underway.
Artists, and small business owners, are finding the
Blackstone Valley an interesting place to live, and work. Affordable
historic mill buildings, and a welcoming can-do attitude in each city
and town, are bringing artists back to the Valley where innovation, and
creativity was launched in America two hundred years earlier.
Professionals are eager to establish a residence, and build their
businesses in the Blackstone Valley.
The federal investment of National Heritage Corridor
dollars since 1986 has fueled redevelopment. Based on this foundation,
programs to develop tourism, clean up the river, create heritage
museums, restore theaters, build a bike path, and plan a river access
system, including the construction of two riverboats, are investments
that are drawing significant private funds to the Valley. Public
investments throughout history have done the same thing.
Private investment along side the interstate highway
system exits is an example of how private investment follows public
investment. Several more buildings, in historic districts, are being
sought by preservation minded private investors. This could mean
sustainability of the historic fabric of the Blackstone Valley, which is
vital to residents, their cultural history, and the visitor industry.
The Blackstone River Valley has halted its economic
free-fall. Each community, working with their respective states, the
National Park Service, and dozens of non-profit organizations, is making
the Blackstone Valley a region in which to live, to invest, and to
visit. Through education, and investment, the Valley is cleaning up its
environment, preserving its past, drawing visitors, and is telling its
story of national significance to the world. In the Blackstone Valley,
leadership and involvement on all levels of the community, has created
positive change.
Community revitalization, based on education, historic
preservation, landscape improvements, private and public investments,
are causing this new found awareness to ensure the Blackstone Valley is
not just a place to make a living, but a place worth living.
References
Alliance of National Heritage Areas, 2002 Annual
Report. Homestead, PA: Alliance of National Heritage Areas.
Boucher, S. M. (1986). The history of Pawtucket
1635-1986. West Hanover, MA: The Pawtucket Public Library & The
Pawtucket Centennial Committee.
Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
Commission (CHLMP) (2001). Cultural heritage and land management plan
for the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. Woonsocket,
RI: The JHC Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
Commission.
Copping, S. E. (2003), Report, Leveraging and resources
information, National heritage areas program. Washington, DC: National
Park Service.
Gunn, C. A. (1994). Tourism planning basics concepts
Cases (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.
Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission. (HARCRI)
(1990). Historical and architectural resources of Cumberland, Rhode
Island. Providence, RI: The RI Historical Preservation Commission.
McKercher, B & duCross, H. (2002). Cultural tourism,
the partnership between tourism and cultural heritage management. New
York, NY: The Haworth Hospitality Press.
National Tour Association. (2003). Company information.
Retrieved from the World Wide Web on March 30, 2003: http://ntaonline.com
Providence Sunday Journal. (1972, September 10).
Providence, RI: The Journal Bulletin Company.
Rivard, P., (1974). Samuel Slater, father of American
manufacturers. Providence, RI: Jo-Art Copy Service Inc.
Slater Mill Historic Site, (SMHS) (2002). Brochure,
Slater Mill Historic Site, Pawtucket, RI.
Status of Authorizing Legislation and Amendments (108th
Congress, 2003-2004) (March 31, 2003). Office of Legislative and
Congressional Affairs, National Park Service. Washington, DC.
Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
Commission. (1999). The next ten years, an amendment to the cultural
heritage and land management plan. Woonsocket, RI: JHC Blackstone River
Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission.
Submitted to:
Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing
Professor Kaye Chon
Chair Professor and Head
Dept of Hotel and Tourism Management
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Hung Ho, Kowloon, Hong Kong
hmkchon@polyu.edu.hk
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