A Lively Experiment - Presented by Rhode Island PBS
Jun 26, 2026 · 28 min · 9 segments
Pawtucket moves to the next phase of its waterfront development plan, securing $30 million in funding for Tidewater Landing. The vision for the project that started with the soccer stadium includes…
Bill BartholomewPanelist
Billy HuntPanelist
Jim HummelHost
Pawtucket officials announced this week they have secured funding for the next phase of tidewater landing, the years in the making development along the Seekonk River that started with the soccer statement and eventually will lead to housing and retail.
It must have been three or four years ago and talking about how important it was to make sure Rhode Islanders stay on top of this project to make sure that the so-called B side actually goes in.
And when you talk about the TIF, the tax incremental financing that really is at the heart of how this deal is going to make sense as a fiscal vehicle.
And I think more than anything right now, it's a little bit of a vibe test on the entire project, because while it was a great first season for a great first season in Pawtucket for the football club up there and there's more and more events happening, ticket sales are way down this year.
And they needed that little bit of injection to say this was the right move to put the stadium here.
And the TIF district, to your point, is reliant on this infrastructure, which is supposed to be part of the original deal.
And the entire cost of the project is now doubled for the debt service and everything like that.
And now we're going to go borrow another $30 million from the infrastructure bank.
So this is actually taking money away from other projects in the state, in the city of Pawtucket that could potentially be used.
And that's the same problem with the TIF zone is that you have this area around the stadium itself that's going ahead and pulling money back.
Pawtucket officials announced this week they have secured funding for the next phase of tidewater landing, the years in the making development along the Seekonk River that started with the soccer statement and eventually will lead to housing and retail.
It must have been three or four years ago and talking about how important it was to make sure Rhode Islanders stay on top of this project to make sure that the so-called B side actually goes in.
And when you talk about the TIF, the tax incremental financing that really is at the heart of how this deal is going to make sense as a fiscal vehicle.
And I think more than anything right now, it's a little bit of a vibe test on the entire project, because while it was a great first season for a great first season in Pawtucket for the football club up there and there's more and more events happening, ticket sales are way down this year.
And they needed that little bit of injection to say this was the right move to put the stadium here.
And the TIF district, to your point, is reliant on this infrastructure, which is supposed to be part of the original deal.
And the entire cost of the project is now doubled for the debt service and everything like that.
And now we're going to go borrow another $30 million from the infrastructure bank.
So this is actually taking money away from other projects in the state, in the city of Pawtucket that could potentially be used.
And that's the same problem with the TIF zone is that you have this area around the stadium itself that's going ahead and pulling money back.
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