To the Editor:
Newport is considering a major expansion of the Harbormaster facility at Perrotti Park. There are plenty of arguments about the design, size, cost and merits of the project.
But there is a more fundamental question the City has yet to answer publicly:
Can Newport legally use this land for the proposed expanded municipal facility?
The deed deserves attention.
On May 30, 1973, the Redevelopment Agency of Newport conveyed Parcel No. 4 of the federally assisted Long Wharf–Market Square Urban Renewal Project, R.I. R-12, to the City of Newport.
The language is unusually direct. The Agency did not simply transfer the property. It “grant[ed] and dedicate[d]” the land to Newport and stated that the property “is to be used as a public park” and enjoyed for that purpose by the public generally.
Four months later, the Newport City Council formally named the property M. Thomas Perrotti Park.
More than 50 years later, it remains one of the precious pieces of green, open waterfront in the heart of downtown Newport.
If it looks like a park, functions as a park, has been treated as a park for half a century, and its deed says it is to be used as a public park — it’s a park.
Save Perrotti Park supports rebuilding the failing bulkhead. We support making the waterfront resilient to flooding. We support improving accessibility and public enjoyment of the park.
What we question is using that necessary work as the opportunity to substantially expand a municipal operations building on land expressly dedicated for public-park use.
This isn’t anti-Harbormaster. Newport needs a Harbormaster.
It’s about location and stewardship.
Before committing millions of dollars and permanently changing this public space, the City should produce its legal analysis explaining why the proposed building is consistent with the 1973 dedication.
Perhaps the City has an answer.
Newport residents deserve to hear it.
Mark Anderson
Founder, Save Perrotti Park
Newport, RI
