“ BEYOND THE BRIDGE WERE NARROW COBBLED STREETS WITH RAILS ; AND THEN CAME THE ASCENT , AT FIRST GRADUAL , BUT INCREDIBLY STEEP AS THE RUE D ’ AUSEIL WAS REACHED .”
Late last August , a quote painted in white stenciled lettering stands out on three steel structural beams on the ceiling of Track 15 , Providence ’ s new food hall , scheduled to open late this winter . The quote is cut short , and no one involved in the current project knows who put it there . It was penned by Providence native H . P . Lovecraft in the short story “ The Music of Erich Zann ,” about an eccentric musician playing beautiful , otherworldly music from a room hidden in a house on the street . It ’ s a quote that surmises the hilly , often treacherous cobblestone-paved avenues of the evolving city of Providence .
It reads like a premonition of the city ’ s relocation of its rivers and train tracks to create “ space alive with motion and music ,” and draws comparison to the quiet power of the Marsella family , which has been humbly , stealthily and methodically transforming the city ’ s urban landscape over five decades .
When people think about the renaissance of downtown Providence , former Mayor Vincent “ Buddy ” Cianci often comes to mind . But , before the rivers were moved , developer Romolo “ Rom ” Marsella and other federal , state and city planners played an integral role in making the Creative Capital what it is today . They moved train tracks and relocated the Amtrak train station to its current home , which provided the open space to build Waterplace Park .
And Rom ’ s continuing that work today , alongside his family , including his son , Christopher , and daughter , Jennifer , long after his retirement . Together , they are launching Track 15 , the city ’ s first locally focused food hall , inside historic Union Station .
The 18,000-square-foot food hall development has
54 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I FEBRUARY 2025