Northeast Sea Grant Coastal Community Development>Rhode Island
Newport Harbor
In coordination with the city of Newport, Newport County Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance for a Livable Newport, and the American Institute of Architects, the University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center/Rhode Island Sea Grant (CRC/Sea Grant) is working to maintain the momentum of the two-day waterfront visioning process that took place in October 2007.
During the workshop, entitled “What Will Newport’s Waterfront Look Like in 2030?” participants determined that this effort should continue and focus on three objectives:
- Create a continuous harbor walk that links all waterfront parcels and allows public access both laterally and along the shore.
- Honor the working waterfront, maintain its relevance, and preserve its identity.
- Develop mechanisms to bring public and private sector interests together to identify and work toward common goals for the waterfront.
View the workshop Summary Report
View the workshop Summary Report Appendicies
View the workshop presentations
CRC/Sea Grant is committed to working with the decision makers, business community, residents, and other stakeholders in Newport to celebrate its historic harbor and improve waterfront accessibility while enhancing Newport’s economy.
Newport Harbor Walk:
Working with Newport’s Friends of the Waterfront, who have a public access and signage program underway, CRC/Sea Grant will assist in developing a program to analyze, map, and identify the opportunities and barriers to creating a seamless public access system along Newport Harbor, connecting points from King Park, the wharves along Lower Thames Street and America’s Cup Avenue, Goat Island, and the Pell Bridge. This study will utilize a public process to provide design recommendations, a short- and long-term action strategy, and potential funding mechanisms.
Economic Development:
Long-term management and economic decisions for the Newport Harbor/Waterfront will be most effective when rooted in sound economic baseline data. This proposed effort will provide detailed data and inventory of the broader economic context along the waterfront that can be used to generate a strategy and action items.
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