A New York Times article recently referred to Providence as “a place still suffering a hangover from the recession”. We hate to admit it, but sadly, it’s true.

With the agonizingly high unemployment rate (still second-highest in the nation), it’s hard not to become a pessimist when economists deem us “one of the slowest state to recover from the recession”.

But wait, the light at the end of the tunnel is slowly but surely nearing towards us. Recent housing developments over the past few months have shown us that Providence is refocusing their efforts in the preservation of historic properties.

One of the biggest, and most exciting, project is the plan to revitalize the historic power plant at Providence Point.

Originally named “Dynamo House” in 2007–this building was supposed to be recreated into a museum and hotel, until 2008 when this project was deemed as a failure by Baltimore-based developer Struever Brothers Eccles & Rouse. The future of Dynamo House is still in limbo until a new investment group secures the property. The building still currently sits in a messy litigation as the original building plan was “not viable”, according to Mr. Orenstein of interim executive director of the nonprofit group, Heritage Harbor Corporation.

Several candidates have shown interest over the past few months and one of them is Brown University. No concrete deals have been made yet but the city will make it a priority to make use of the property.

Until then, we have high hopes for this project-to-be. Although economic circumstances forced one investor to abandon the project in the past, signs of renewed interest show that there is hope in the revitalization of this space, and in Providence.