Cianci's Family Discusses Legacy -- and New Plans to Honor Former Providence Mayor

1)

A National Reputation

No one knows anything about Hartford, Springfield or Worcester. For centuries, these were Providence’s peer cities and for decades Providence lived in the same anonymity.

In 1974, a young former Federal Prosecutor named Buddy Cianci burst on to the RI political scene when he knocked the Democratic political machine out of office and set forth a new political era in Providence.

Cianci’s efforts as Mayor which touched four decades, and helped to launch Providence to national prominence. 

2)

AS220

If Umberto Crenca is the father of AS220, then Buddy Cianci was the rich uncle that gave the initial loans that launched the city’s most innovative urban arts program.

As AS220 writes:

In 1992, AS220 embarked on an effort to own a home of its own in downtown Providence. We acquired a 21,000 sq ft three story building at 95-121 Empire Street that was severely blighted and almost totally abandoned.

By the following year, we achieved code compliance and 100% occupancy, with Groundworks Dance Company, Perishable Theatre, and a number of resident artists helping to fill every room. This was accomplished with a limited budget of $1.2 million, tremendous community support, highly imaginative fundraising, and most significantly, sweat equity. 

Photo: AS 220

3)

Roger Williams Park Zoo

Like many urban parks, Roger Williams had fallen into disarray in the second half of the 20th century. The 400 acre victorian park and the zoo were tired at best. Animals from the zoo regularly escaped.

Over the course of his tenure, Cianci understood the importance of the park as a recreation hub and the zoo as a destination location for families throughout New England.

Getting young parents to come to Providence to visit the zoo was a great strategy for building Providence as a destination site.

Since Cianci left office the Zoo’s exhibits and attendance has plummeted.

4)

Waterfire

Without Cianci, the creation and growth of Waterfire would be in question. 

In the mid-1990’s, Providence artist Barnaby Evans conceived the art installation - Waterfire. The event experience was nurtured and grew under Cainci’s support.

Writes Waterfire on their website, “In response to growing attendance, WaterFire expanded in size to 81 braziers in 1998; and 97 braziers in 1999. The 1999 season culminated with 100 bonfires in a special WaterFire lighting for the December 31 millennium celebrations.”

5)

Providence Place Mall

In 1995, Republican Governor Lincoln Almond entered office, after having run on a platform pledging to block any public subsidies for the proposed Providence Place Mall. 

Almond had served as U.S. Attorney in RI for decades and was a harsh critic of Cianci. Before Almond left office, the Providence Place Mall was celebrating a gala opening complete with tax incentives and a new highway ramp system. 

Visit Nordstrom and think Buddy Cianci. 

6)

Providence Bruins

Larry Lepore of the Dunkin’ Donut Center and Convention Center wrote the following for GoLocal, of Cianci's role in the Baby Bruins:

"In the early 1990’s, Buddy was fully aware that the new RI Convention Center was opening in 1992 and the then Providence Civic Center would be losing several major events (i.e. Boat Show, Home Show, Auto Show, etc) to the new Convention Center. He was convinced that a major tenant needed to fill the gap at the Civic Center. He realized that minor league hockey was probably the only viable option to keep the City alive with entertainment, but he didn’t want just any team, he wanted the minor league team of the Boston Bruins. He thought it made perfect sense that the Boston Bruins should be in RI, especially since the minor league team for the Boston Red Sox was already in RI. At the time, the Boston Bruins had a very successful minor league franchise in Portland, the Maine Mariners.

Many told the Mayor that it was never going to happen. He insisted and prevailed in securing Boston’s minor league team for Providence. He also insisted that they be called the Providence Bruins, which almost derailed the deal. At the time, many of the Providence Civic Center board members were not thrilled with the deal that was structured telling him that it wasn’t a good deal for the Civic Center. Buddy’s reaction was, “It’s a great deal for the city.” Twenty four years later, millions of fans have come into the city, dined at local restaurants, parked and walked the streets of Providence, and enjoyed great hockey propelling the Providence Bruins to one of the best AHL franchises in the League. This is just another prime example of Buddy’s insight to see what others couldn’t.

7)

Restaurants - and So Much More

Providence emerged as a "foodie" city in the 1990’s. Buddy Cianci challenged Mayor Tom Menino and Boston to a restaurant challenge - of course the competition was driven by massive public relations campaign. 

Guess which city won the challenge? Cianci did the counting and Providence won.

As former Brown President Vartan Gregorian told GoLocal in a recent interview, Cianci put Providence on the map as a restaurant city.

8)

PPAC

Providence Performing Arts Center was once a facility on the edge. It was a destination for third-tier traveling shows, but miles away from attracting first-tier top Broadway shows. Cianci teamed with Lynn Singleton at PPAC to construct a financing structure to modernize and expand the theater to be able to attract shows directly from Broadway. 

Without Cianci’s involvement and the City of Providence’s investment of more than $1 million — PPAC would never be able to attract shows like The Lion King, Wicked, The Book of Mormon and dozen of other shows.

9)

Trinity Rep

When Cianci returned to office, Trinity Repertory was on the verge of bankruptcy. The celebrated theatre was tired and had lost its artistic direction. It had come off a year led by Artisitic Director Anne Bogart — a woman with a big creative reputation who was supposed to take the post Adrain Hall Trinity to a new level, but instead helped the fragile theater to economic ruin. 

But as the New York Times wrote in 1990, the marriage almost ended the regional theater’s future. 

“When the avant-garde theater director Anne Bogart and the Trinity Repertory Company came to the last act of their drama in May and parted company, it was more than a dispute over budget cuts. The fact that after less than a year the 38-year-old director and one of the nation's leading regional companies did not live happily ever after...even before Ms. Bogart's appointment last fall, Trinity had been a troubled place, beset by controversies and a leadership vacuum."

Enter Cianci and a cast of community leaders - they helped raise capital and the City of Providence behind Cianci provided the financing structure that ultimately ended up saving Trinity.

10)

Providence is Cool 

In June of 2015, GQ magazine named Providence the coolest city in America. For Providence, it was just another recognition for the city. Providence since the mid-1990s has been the "Renaissance City." The foundation of the resurrection are the accomplishments of Cianci.

Hartford, New Haven, Worcester, and Springfield would cherish any type of national recognition, but for Providence the GQ award was just another trophy for an already crowded trophy case. 

Cianci -- all of his weaknesses and strengths -- didn't just put Providence on the map. He made Providence "cool."