400 Summer St., in Boston’s Seaport District, where Hasbro has chosen to relocate its headquarters building, along with 700 jobs. (Photo courtesy of CoStar News)
Rhode Islanders are mourning the loss of a leading manufacturer, Hasbro, which has announced its departure from its home of a century in Pawtucket, to Boston’s Seaport District, which, as a district, has nothing to do with the sea or ports. Hasbro will share space in an ugly building there (is there any other kind?) owned by WS Development. (WS Development owns the Newport Ceamery in Cranston’s Garden City, which has just been told to move out.) The long-anticipated move (of Hasbro), likely costing some 700 jobs, will elicit a groan from those dependent upon the strategy used to keep the toymaker in the Bucket: state tax credit packages, which was no strategy at all.
The silver lining in the dark cloud of Hasbro’s move, if it is perceived as such – which is highly unlikely – is a warning. To wit, the Ocean State’s continued refusal to promote an attractive, or even useful, environment has failed. Hasbro’s departure should push us to turn our backs on the pitiful architecture for corporate relocation and development. Rhode Island is a state whose historical legacy was for decades supported by its lovely historical architecture, until the advent of modern architecture. The Ocean State’s historical allure is its highest card in the high-stakes regional rivalry for jobs. Historical beauty is our brand. Buildings that reflect the state’s historical legacy are not hard to erect. We need only exert a piddling force of will to make the switch from ugly to beauty. I have been a constant fount of advice for decades here and at the Journal urging such a strategy.
The last time Hasbro was mentioned here was when rumors suggested that it would be relocating to the Industrial Trust (“Superman”) Building. Thankfully, we were spared that disaster. Can you imagine the hash Hasbro would have made of the Supe? Look at what Pawtucket has made of McCoy Stadium – a high school, actually a mashup of three high schools. But instead of the wilds of Pawtucket, it would have been in Kennedy Plaza, in downtown Providence. Yikes!
Rhode Island lost – essentially we gave the boot to – the PawSox several years ago. We have learned nothing. What’s next? CVS? Its headquarters is in Woonsocket. I have heard no whispering from thereabouts of its impending departure … yet.
Architecture Here and There 
This is all very sad. Methinks if a certain newspaper still had a certain column by a certain architecture/urbanism critic, this deeply unfortunate and regrettable decision would never have been made. Ideas have consequences.
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Truly? When did Hasbro first set foot in Pawtucket. I little knew that the firm ever had any roots in Providence. And, by “that thing to the farther north,” do you mean Boston or Central Falls?
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Providence gave birth to Hasbro, not that dumpy suburb or certainly not that thing to the farther north. Providence was where it belonged, but the state and city had no real relationship with the new Hasbro leaders and very little cards to play. The Innovation District offer was good, but required Hasbro to build its new headquarters. “Loyalty to its roots” is not a corporate personality trait. So, the city (and state) suffered an embarrassing defeat…again.
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