Providence Place, opened on
August 20,
1999, is an urban
shopping mall in the central part of
Providence, Rhode Island, near the
Rhode Island State House and
Providence Station. Comprising three main floors, the mall is connected via
skyway to the nearby
Westin Hotel which is adjacent to the
Rhode Island Convention Center. It also features several streetside restaurants. There are 160 stores in all.
The 1.4 million
ft² (130,000
m²) facility was constructed in 1999 at the cost of $460 million. The mall is situated near the interchange of
I-95,
I-195, and
U.S. 6.
Architecture
Inside Providence Place
The mall has 7 levels in total. The lowest 3 levels are labeled C-A. Level C consists of Parking-Only Stateside, and Street Level Restaurants Cityside. Level B consists of Borders and Restaurants, and Old Navy stateside, and The Skybrige to the Westin and Bed Bath & Beyond cityside. Level A consists of parking only city and stateside. The fourth through sixth levels are labeled 1-3 and have the indoor galleria, and the seventh level has a
Dave & Buster's, an
IMAX theatre, and 16-screen
cinema. The mall's southern end (facing Downtown) is called Cityside, and the northern end (facing the State Capitol and other state office buildings) is called Stateside. The mall also hosts 2 large parking garages, one cityside and one stateside, anchored to its back end, with bridges connecting the two sides over the river.
A noticeable feature in its architecture is its Winter Garden, a four-level structure in the center of the mall spanning the
Woonasquatucket River and the
Amtrak rail, providing the
Acela service. Additionally, the Winter Garden features large expanses of glass providing views of the city. The third level of the Winter Garden contains the foodcourt and access to the fourth level of the wintergarten, which serves as the entrance to Dave and Busters, the IMAX theatre, and the cinema. Providence Place also has had a
fire drill once but there were problems with their fire escape plan.
Unauthorized residence
Michael Townsend and seven other artists covertly built an apartment in a loft in one of the mall's parking garages in 2004 and lived there for up to three weeks at a time while documenting mall life. After the fully furnished apartment was discovered by mall security, Townsend was sentenced to probation on
2 October 2007.
Featured Attractions
Providence Place from front with the
Gtech headquarters obscuring left view
There are two small levels with several stores, three main levels, and an entertainment level on top, which includes an
IMAX theater and a 16-screen cinema. The facility also has a 5,000 car
parking garage integrated into it.
Anchor Stores
- Macy's (opened 1999 as Filene's, became Macy's 2006)(Levels 1-3)
Streetside Stores
