Over a year after residents of Southside began envisioning redevelopment for the former Rhode Island Urban League site at 246 Prairie Avenue, community members gathered on December 16 at the Southside Cultural Center to hear updates from the Providence Redevelopment Agency (PRA). The meeting, led by PRA’s Director of Planning and Development Joe Mulligan and moderated by South Providence Neighborhood Association president Ron Crosson, revealed tensions between city officials and residents. Mulligan framed the city’s housing crisis as a challenge driven by construction costs and financing constraints, suggesting that future development may need to prioritize scaled production over traditional, smaller-scale housing. However, residents were eager to learn what the city had gathered from extensive community engagement workshops held since October 2023.

Tim Shea, former city community planning manager, presented key findings from these workshops, emphasizing the importance of honoring the site’s Black history and culture. The community expressed strong desires for a mixed-use neighborhood hub that includes economic opportunities, gathering spaces, green areas, and designs sensitive to the predominantly single-family residential context of surrounding streets. Despite these clear community priorities, the meeting underscored ongoing uncertainty and skepticism about how the redevelopment will balance these needs with the city’s development pressures.