Downtown Westerly has been selected to become a KeepSpace Community – a unique and innovative opportunity to create new homes, support business and economic development, and protect the environment. This initiative will focus on the areas around the train station and the Main Street riverfront, and how these two focus areas connect to one another, the rest of downtown, and the neighborhoods that s
urround them, such as the North End and Wilcox East, as well as downtown Pawcatuck. Launched in the summer of 2007 by Rhode Island Housing, KeepSpace is a widely inclusive partnership initiative to change the way we think about, build and approach “community.” For KeepSpace to truly improve our community, especially when funds are limited, partners agree to come to the table in a spirit of collaboration. Understanding that we must think beyond our own spheres of interest – the bounds of our expertise, the charge of our employment, the borders of our neighborhoods – we consider multiple perspectives to create a healthy, prosperous, sustainable future. KeepSpace Westerly is whole systems approach to sustainable placemaking in our town. The planning phase of the KeepSpace process kicked off in November 2010 and will last for one year, culminating in a Community Design Plan. With continued community involvement, actual development will follow, in accordance with the Community Design Plan. The Westerly Land Trust will act as financial agent and custodian for KeepSpace Westerly.
