Ah, Kennedy Plaza. If you’re from the Providence area, you’d know the disdain most people feel towards this special place. If you’re unfamiliar, well, let me explain: It’s the place where you have to fight off (not literally, well sometimes) hungry homeless people, as well as young high school kids with authority issues, in order to catch a bus. It’s also the place that holds its seasonal ice skating extravaganzas, or occasional Portuguese heritage block parties, or other seemingly fun events. But, at the end of the day, Kennedy Plaza remains to be a place where you usually get hassled or provoked by its “gatekeepers”.

Yet, it seems like this wondrous place will be getting a nice facelift by the city of Providence.

There are new visions for Kennedy Plaza, and the plan is to revitalize the area. There will be a meeting held today, April 18th, at 5:30PM to discuss future plans and budget costs. According to several sources, the vision is to “reduce bus traffic and turn Kennedy Plaza into a square inspired by New York City’s Bryant Park and piazzas in Florence, Italy.” In other words, create a more friendly and welcoming atmosphere to drive more foot traffic. Maybe drive out the hasslers and provokers?

The plans to restructure the area calls for more open spaces for multiple uses, such as: cafe’s, open markets, water garden (??), and a bicycle station. To do this, Kennedy Plaza will no longer have bus stations, 10 will be relocated and 6 will be removed. But nothing is certain as of yet, as details will be revealed after 5:30PM this evening.