GLOCESTER – A massive and highly-anticipated effort to improve the property that once held the Purple Cat Restaurant took a small step forward this week, with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management approving owner Al Costantino’s application for a freshwater wetlands permit for his lot on Money Hill Road.
Once complete, the development is expected to include a new antiques store, eight one-bedroom housing units, an ice cream parlor, a maintenance garage and additional commercial units, located in six buildings in the center of Chepachet.
Costantino purchased the 1.8 acre property from a member of the family that once owned the business in 2022 and got to work quickly, demolishing the former restaurant and constructing new buildings, including signage announcing the new “Purple Cat Ice Cream Co.” in the highly visible effort.
But work has taken longer than many anticipated, with little visible outward progress since the initial work.
When NRI NOW checked in with Costantino last year, the Smithfield-based developer explained that while he wants to see the Stafford Yards project completed, he wants it done right, not rushed. The project, he said, has been saddled with delays in obtaining building materials due to manufacturing back orders, as well as increases in costs.
With penny tile floor, antique ceiling tiles, and soda fountain stools and a counter, Costantino hopes the finished effort will bring visitors back in time, he said.
The developer also appeared before the Glocester Town Council in 2024 to make the case for installation of a dry fire hydrant in the new complex, suggesting other, similar hydrants should be installed throughout the village. The unpressured hydrant, he noted, would allow fire trucks to access water from a large pond behind the new buildings.
In the permit filed with in the town clerk’s office this week, RIDEM has approved installation of a dry hydrant on the property. Doing business as Purple Cat Properties, LLC, Costantino also got the go-ahead for an effort to widen an existing gravel access road from 10 to 16 feet, and to pave the area with porous pavement to allow fire truck access.
Approved site plans show that the application with RIDEM’s office of Water Resources Freshwater Wetlands Program was first submitted in May of 2023, and has undergone five revisions, with the final version submitted in May.
The RIDEM permit is set to expire in five years unless renewed.
I don’t think it’s an eyesore,. It replaced a Diner. Was that an eyesore? Would another strip mall be better? I think it’s a great addition to the Village area and should provide an additional place of interest for those escaping the city.
I am lifelong resident here on Money Hill Road and business owner in town and I drive by this on average, 4 times a day!! It’s such a big eyesore and focal point of interest in town. It really doesn’t look good for the Town when a project of this scale/size is started then stops before completion and left unoccupied! There are many risks involved in this overly large, empty, eyesore.