В Провиденсе ведут борьбу за спасение исторического железнодорожного туннеля и подъемного моста

PROVIDENCE — Three kinds of people dare to venture into the abandoned railroad tunnel that runs for a dark, dank mile beneath the East Side of Providence: Explorers. Party-goers. Artists. Sandor Bodo, a former Providence Journal photographer, has been collecting their stories — and chronicling the tales of the East Side train tunnel — for nearly four years for a documentary film. He is aiming to finish shooting the documentary later this year, just as the city is leading an effort to save the Crook Point Bascule Bridge, a drawbridge which used to carry trains to the tunnel but is now stuck in the upright position. Bodo recently led a small group on a tour of the tunnel, recounting its history and its place in Rhode Island lore. He noted that on May Day in 1993, a large group of Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University students entered the tunnel to celebrate Beltane, an ancient Celtic fire festival marking the return of summer. “There were students with masks, with horns,” Bodo said. “They’re playing drums, and they were doing fires. A lot of them had toilet paper rolls on a stick as a torch.” The party grew bigger and louder, and soon RISD security officers arrived. The students told them to leave — that they lacked jurisdiction. The Providence Police then arrived, with jurisdiction. “They used the jurisdiction to pepper gas people to get out of the tunnel,” Bodo said. “So they all scooted out that end, and that was like a kicking a wasp nest. Now they’re pissed off. And that ensued into a riot that involved throwing bricks and bottles, and people being arrested.” In 1993, The Providence Journal reported that seven police officers were injured and three police cruisers were damaged, while eight students were arrested and some students were injured. The party had attracted an estimated 200 to 300 people, the Journal reported. Sam Kimball, who wrote his senior thesis about the tunnel and the drawbridge before graduating from Brown University in 2022, noted that police claimed to have encountered satanic rituals at the party. The tunnel ended up being sealed off later that year. Since then, knee-deep water has collected at either end of the tunnel, so the tour with Bodo began with a splash, using walking sticks to balance on submerged railroad ties. Bodo said the tunnel first opened in 1908, bringing trains that crossed the Seekonk River over the Crook Point Bascule Bridge and under the East Side to the former Union Station in downtown Providence. The last train went through the tunnel in 1981, he said. Some people confuse the train tunnel with the East Side Transit Tunnel, which still carries buses from North Main Street up to Thayer Street, Bodo said. He said fewer people know about the train tunnel, which actually goes beneath the bus tunnel at one point. Bodo said he has interviewed people who have explored the train tunnel for one reason or another. One person drove a former postal vehicle through the tunnel. Others recalled shooting off fireworks in the tunnel years ago. Bodo noted that graffiti artists have treated the tunnel walls as a canvas, painting images ranging from a Smurf holding can of spray paint to the phrase “The world has changed.” Bodo pointed out stalactites and stalagmites, saying calcium deposits have leached out of the cement beneath Brook Street. “It’s not exactly like Wonder Cave or Carlsbad Caverns,” he said. “But it is really the earth taking claim of it again.” About halfway through the tunnel, Bodo came across a green tent, fully assembled on a tarp, but empty. He also came across a home-made dolly, with wheels hugging the railroad tracks, labeled “East Side Underground.” At the North Main Street end of the tunnel, brilliant rays of sunlight sliced through the edges of sealed doors made of corrugated metal. “It’s quite beautiful,” Bodo said. “Come in the late afternoon when the sun’s right out there, this is awesome. It’s really bright, and you can see it way further back and reflecting in the water.” At the conclusion of the tour, Bodo said he is not sure what will be done with the tunnel in the future, if anything. Earlier this year, the General Assembly approved legislation to create an independent corporate authority to acquire, develop, and maintain the Crook Point Bascule Bridge, the rusted state-owned drawbridge between Providence and East Providence. The state Department of Transportation had planned to demolish the bridge, citing safety concerns and calling it an “attractive nuisance,” and the bridge caught fire in 2021. But Providence Mayor Brett Smiley asked lawmakers to allow the city to create a bridge authority. This week, a spokesperson for Smiley said the city is in the process of establishing the authority to take ownership of the drawbridge from the state. “In the months ahead, the city will work to update the bridge condition report, conduct a feasibility analysis, begin the planning and design work needed to understand what is possible for the bridge moving forward, and work with the community to create a vision for the public reuse of this historic presence on Providence’s skyline,” the spokesperson said. The winner of an earlier design contest for the bridge included a trail and park near the tunnel’s eastern entrance. But it’s not clear that will happen now. Bodo said one person he interviewed suggested turning the tunnel into the world’s longest bar. The tunnel is 5,080 feet long. So, he said, “That would probably get into the Guinness Book of Records.” The Rhode Island Report podcast is produced by The Boston Globe Rhode Island. To get the latest episode each week, follow the Rhode Island Report podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcasting platforms, or listen in the player above. Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @FitzProv.