Over the weekend, The Washington Post ran an opinion piece entitled, “Downtowns are lifeless. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to revive them.” The piece lays out various conversations mayors across America are having about the challenges downtowns are now facing after years of progress pre-pandemic.

I would remove “lifeless” from the headline. While the current situations we see are real and require new energy and new ideas, there are many people committed to our downtowns, and many talented people who continue to show up each and every day to regain the interest in downtowns that existed in 2019 and to launch new efforts. These committed people need more support and more help.

We built Westwey Club to support and enhance the variety of things happening in Downtown Providence, and to bring in new people, who otherwise wouldn’t be downtown. After a very slow start due to bad timing of when we had to open and the impacts of COVID, this is starting to happen. Like many businesses downtown we just need more time and more support.

We’re focused on molding Westwey Club into a vibrant, community-space, perfect for a variety of professionals who want to contribute downtown, and can benefit from the services we offer and the creative energy here, regardless of what industry they work in.

We want to partner with other local organizations, both on events and to bring the Westwey Club name and energy to all parts of Providence and New England. We’re very excited for what this year holds and hope you will join us. If you have fresh ideas we should be a part of, please let us know. We can’t wait to grow the community that Providence and the area’s leading creative people deserve.

Thanks,
Tom Nardacci