Idea to Host Former Yachting Center Concerts at Fort Adams Draws Ire

An idea for Fort Adams to host events formerly held at the Newport Yachting Center, such as the Newport Summer Concert Series, has drawn resistance from a neighborhood association and prominent lawyer Brian Cunha.

In a letter to members of the Newport City Council, Michele Maker Palmieri, executive director of Newport Waterfront Events has asked for the council to convene a public workshop to “address questions and concerns” about the idea.

Palmieri said Newport Waterfront Events, formerly the event division of the Newport Yachting Center, has been in a “discussion and discovery phase” for several potential locations including a recent proposal to the Fort Adams Trust for operating inside the Fort walls.

Newport Waterfront Events has also been in talks with the state Department of Environmental Management for use of the West Lawn and “several other RIDEM properties across the state.”

The trust has been in contact with the mayor and City Council members and has suggested the workshop, which Palmieri said she agrees is the best course of action.

Members of the Castle Hill Neighborhood Association are opposed to the proposed expansion of summer events at Fort Adams State Park.

In a Dec. 1 letter to the City Council, Rick Farrick, president of the association, said residents are concerned about the potential for noise, pollution, parking and traffic problems.

“Our opinions are likely echoed by all neighborhood groups who would oppose a large commercial enterprise moving from a business district into a residential neighborhood,” Farrick wrote.

The proposal, which Farrick said includes up to 30 events with upwards of 3,500 people attending each event would negatively impact the quality of life of the neighborhood.

“We are afraid that what is happening here is a little more than a transfer of the problems caused by concert at the downtown Newport Yachting Center into the middle of our residential neighborhood,” Ferrick said.

The Newport Yachting Center, which was sold by Newport Harbor Corporation to Rumford-based Peregrine Group in September, received a string of noise violations from the police department over the summer. The center ultimately pleaded no contest and paid fines to resolve the matter, which is right about when the sale was announced.

After the announcement that the Newport Yachting Center would close and the site would simply become a parking lot, many bemoaned the potential loss of a major draw for the City by the Sea every summer. The concert and comedy shows drew big names -- and big crowds.

But is Fort Adams the right place to absorb what was a major commercial enterprise? Though the Newport Folk Festival, for example, brings large crowds to the park every year, it is just a once-a-year-event.

“We feel that our neighborhood, and especially Fort Adams should not be turned into a commercial summer entertainment center,” Ferrick said.

Cunha on Nov. 19 wrote the City Council and recommended a maximum of five additional events with a maximum attendance of 2,500, limited to daytime concerts for a one year period.

“That initial expansion of events will allow the City Council and the RIDEM to evaluate the impact on the area,” Cunha said.

The City Council will take up the matter at its Dec. 10 meeting.