- Cranston Herald

Posted Wednesday, September 27, 2023 12:00 am Dear Editor:     From 2003 to 2007 me and my husband Patrick, spent over $7 million dollars renovating the old Providence Gas Company purifier plant at 200 Allens Avenue for placement on the National Register of Historic Buildings.  We renamed this barred-roofed landmark Conley's Wharf because it was adjacent to State Pier No. 1, Rhode Island's Ellis Island, where 84,000 Southern European immigrants landed from 1913 to 1934.             We used the restored structure, which we intended to be the matrix for the development of the waterfront, for such purposes as artists' studios, an art gallery, a function center, which I managed, and the home of the Fabre Line Club, a cultural organization that held numerous heritage-oriented events, book signings, lectures, and ethnic food festivals, as well as Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame historical inductions and Constitution Day lectures by leading national scholars.