BY VINAYA SAKSENA

CENTRAL FALLS — State and local officials, along with various other interested parties and guests, walked and rode a bus down Broad Street on Monday, making stops in the communities it runs through to experience the flavor of life there — empanadas included.

The tour was the latest in a series of events that have seen local public officials attempting to expose and discuss their efforts to revitalize the Broad Street neighborhood economically, with a study on the matter to be funded with money from a federal Preserve America grant shared by Pawtucket, Central Falls and Cumberland.
The event was spearheaded by Blackstone Valley Tourism Council President Robert D. Billington and Broad Street Initiative Coordinator Alex Sommer, with Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts, the mayors of the three communities, and various other local movers and shakers along for the ride.
The tour began at the Blackstone River Theater in Cumberland, where the project’s proponents had held their first public event, and finished at the end of the street in Pawtucket, just past Exchange Street.
Before that last stop came; however, those present were treated to a flavorful Colombian-style lunch at La Sorpresa Restaurant in Central Falls, where the status of the project was also discussed.
“We’re (continually) moving forward,” Central Falls Mayor Charles Moreau said, noting the prospect of a new train station coming to the Pawtucket/ Central Falls line on Broad Street. “It’s a great place.”
Pawtucket Mayor James Doyle, meanwhile, praised the work of those driving the project, particularly Sommer and Claudia Cardoza-Tarullo of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. In particular, he noted that going door-to-door to speak with residents and business owners was proving to be the right strategy for their endeavor.
“The most effective work is being done in the groundwork that’s being done by Claudia and (Alex),” Doyle said. “The best part of this endeavor was that it was a bottom-up approach.”
Nancy Whit of the Pawtucket Citizens Development Corporation noted that her group had been working on housing initiatives for the Barton Street area, as well as an after school program and a community garden. As for the future of Broad Street, she said that changes could be made to make the area a more appealing place to live and work.
“We’re still looking at what else we might want to do,” Whit said. “It needs to be a good place to live, a good place to work and a good place to raise children.”
The officials present for the tour had visited and spoken to local business owners earlier in the tour, and touted the importance of local entrepreneurs like La Sorpresa’s owners, Adriana and Libardo Moncada. Following the event, Adriana Moncada, a native of Colombia, said she was hopeful and confident that new life could be breathed into Broad Street, noting, however, that she hoped to see the arrival of restaurants specializing in foods from other Latin American countries not currently represented in the area, particularly Guatemala, where she said many of her staff hail from.
“The Spanish people need more opportunities for their businesses,” she said, adding that she thought the revitalization project might help provide those opportunities. “I think it’s a great idea. I’m ready.”
Sommer noted that a consulting firm, the McGuire Group, had been hired to help with the project, and would be working on it in conjunction with the Gates Leighton firm. He added that a community outreach event on the project was expected to take place in June, and would likely be announced shortly. Upon learning that Adriana Moncada also ran a resort in her home country, several of the event’s attendees got the same idea.
The next meeting we have is in Colombia,” Moreau joked.