Innovation Center Was First Of Paul Carroll's Many Projects

NEWPORT, RI—The construction on the old Sheffield School on Broadway is moving ahead. Projections say the retrofitted building will open as the city's new Innovation Center next January, Paul Carroll said in an interview with Patch on Thursday. But if he's there to witness the opening day, he'll be back as a guest. Mr. Carroll has announced he is leaving his post as Newport's director of civic investment for a job in the private sector. Most of his projects are underway, he said. It was about time for him to step back, and he felt this was the right time to go.

Carroll was hired by former City Manager Jane Howington in February 2013, he said. She asked him to look at the challenges facing Newport and find a way to turn them into opportunities. Carroll has about 15 projects in the works; and although he will be leaving in a few days, residents may feel his impact for years to come.

Since one of his projects is the bridge realignment, people may think of him every time they drive into Newport or leave. The realignment is in the comments stage now, he said. The state's initial plans would have carved up more land into rotaries. Now, the idea is more holistic.

Carroll laughed when asked if he could pick a favorite project. He said the whole portfolio would stand as his biggest accomplishment. Each project is worthy to stand on its own, but they're also connected. The Cranston-Calvert School project, for example, will deal with the need to provide market rate housing for young people who want to stay in Newport and work in the jobs which will be located at the new Innovation Center and the Innovation Hub.

"They're all individually worthwhile," he said, but "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts."

Carroll defended the decision to use Cranston-Calvert as market-rate housing, and not condos, and disputed assertions the city had a higher offer for the property.

"I really take umbrage at that," he said. The offers were comparable, he maintains, but one investor wanted to build condos, while the other agreed to market-rate housing. Most young people cannot afford a condo, he said.

But although he doesn't have one favorite Newport project, he did allow the Sheffield School was his first.

"It tested the waters," he said, and the other projects have developed from there.

Although the Chamber of Commerce was initially the lone tenant for Sheffield, others are on board, he said.

"There are multiple prospective tenants," he said, and a new city employee was hired Aug. 1 to recruit them.

From a modest start (committing to $500,000 to invest in all these projects) and providing some City Hall expertise, "Newport did very well," he said.

Staff Photo: Margo Sullivan