Bob McMahon, Columnist
Without question, WaterFire is a unique Providence experience that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Downtown every year. Downtown restaurants, hotels, and parking lots particularly benefit significantly from these visitors, raking in millions of dollars a year from WaterFire nights.
While WaterFire is a community artistic success and provides financial benefits to Downtown businesses and the state, it is in financial trouble. In fact, the WaterFire organization’s finances are underwater. The WaterFire organization is reportedly over $2 million in debt. This debt represents the remaining mortgage on the WaterFire Arts building and operational overspending in 2023 and 2024.
WaterFire has now come to the Providence Mayor’s Office to bail out its finances. Mayor Brett Smiley has asked the City Council to approve a city purchase of the WaterFire Arts building at 475 Valley Street for $3.5 million. The $3.5 million is intended to enable WaterFire to modify its debt…