Partners in the City of Providence are creating a series of open spaces including: parks, bike paths, and a golf course–all from former industrial properties that have been revitalized. With help from federal, state, and local partners, the Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project (WRGP) is producing a series of linear parks joined together by a 6.6-mile bike loop that extends from downtown Providence to the Johnston City border. The WRGP begins behind the Providence Place Mall (a brownfields property that was once an abandoned railyard) and ends at the Button Hole Golf Course (also a former brownfield). The park redevelopment project includes the cleanup of two remaining brownfields, the former Lincoln Lace & Braid and Riverside Mills mill complexes, and the restoration of two abandoned parks. Cleanup and construction cots for the park and playground at the Riverside Mills property is nearly $2.8 million. The project is also creating small neighborhood pocket parks. The bike paths create recreational opportunities for citizens, as well as real transportation opportunities connecting lower income areas to economic centers of the city.

Partnerships have been key to the effort, for example. The National Park Service has adopted the Woonasquatucket River as a part of its Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. Other partners include: Federal Partners: Department of Transportation ($3.1 million); Department of Housing and Urban Development ($1 million); Environmental Protection Agency ($180,000); National Park Service. State Partners: Rhode Island Department of Transportation Improvement Projects (TIP) funds ($800,000); RI Department of Environmental Management ($483,000); State of Rhode Island ($550,000); Other Partners: City of Providence ($2.9 million); Trust for Public Land; Naraganssett Bay Commission, The Providence Plan; Lila Wallace Readers Digest Fund (now called the Wallace Foundation) Urban Parks Program.

These parks and bike paths are important recreational properties in the area. In addition to bike paths, amenities at the parks include a play area, a water park, a skateboarding park, a stage, a canoe dock, and a sheltered picnic area. The Button Hole golf course, a 9-hole course with a driving range, providing neighborhood youths with their first opportunity to play the sport. Additionally, an extensive plan for bike paths connecting many nodes of the city–economic and recreational–are underway and the bike paths will connect to larger regional and state-wide bike trails.