Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. -- On Saturday night, Narragansett officials will dedicate the opening of the new Casino Courtyard park adjacent to The Towers, the 1885-historic structure, near the town beach, which overlooks the Atlantic on Ocean Road.

The two-hour event begins at 6 p.m. in the new park on Ocean Road. The dedication will feature a Dixieland band, catered food, a complimentary beverage and cash bar.

The new Courtyard Casino park in Narragansett will be dedicated Saturday. Photo by Seth Jacobson, courtesy of the Towers Committee

The site of the Casino Courtyard park just over a year ago, in April 2008. Journal file photo

The park is a triangular-shaped lot that has14 benches and a fountain with a "frolicking fish" sculpture, cast and designed in 1932 by Narragansett native Elizabeth Jenks Clark.

Surrounding the fountain is a two-tier pool and some 600 pavers, that match the granite stone in the Victorian-era styled pillars.

The park's name Casino Courtyard evolves from the term that was used at one time to describe the Towers.

During the Gilded Age, the Towers, the stone archway and pillar structure next to the Narragansett Town Beach on Ocean Road, was called a casino. Not the gambling kind, but a social epicenter that drew wealthy travelers.

Thousands of revelers flocked to the Towers. Inside it was a like a private club, with indoor shops, tennis courts, theater and other entertainment. It was a time when Narragansett vied with Newport as a destination for the affluent.

Elizabeth Jenks Clark's 1932 "frolicking fish" sculpture. Journal file photo

As the years went by, the casino concept faded into history. By the late 1960s, while the Towers stood firm, the area around it was blighted and ravaged by time.

Today the Towers is rented out for private functions. For the past five years, members of the Towers Committee, a quasi-town board, have worked to restore that land adjacent to it -- a worn out patch of grass -- to transform it into an ocean-side park.

"The place is like what they've done with the [three] rivers in Providence, to have the spaces by the river where you can go and sit. This is a place by the ocean that you can go and sit," said Kate Vivian, the Towers Committee coordinator. "It's a landmark for the state."

As a way to raise funds for the project, the committee sold the granite pavers -- they went for $150-$275 each -- and buyers engraved them with sentiments. The benches also sold for $4000-$5,000, and have memorial plaques on them.

The committee also received a $100,000 historic parks grant from the state Department of Environment Management last summer.

Tickets for the dedication may be ordered on line at thetowersri.com, by calling The Towers at (401) 782-2597, or at the Narragansett Chamber of Commerce office located in The Towers. The price is $30 in advance, $35 day of the event.

 Tags  Narragansett RI

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