Rocky Point open to the public Sunday

WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) - The public can once again get a blast from the past plus a million dollar view of Narragansett Bay as the city of Warwick opens the public portion of the former Rocky Point amusement park on Sunday.

The gates of the park will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Mayor Scott Avedisian said that the city decided to repeat the open house it hosted last year to celebrate the acquisition of 41 acres of open space.

The park once consisted of more than 120 acres and when it closed in bankruptcy more than a decade ago, it looked like almost all the land would be redeveloped as private property.

In the following years, however, the city worked with state and federal officials, including the Small Business Administration, to piece together $4.4 million to buy 41 oceanfront acres that will be preserved forever as public open space.

Avedisian stressed that the remaining 83 acres, which include the old midway and Windjammer restaurant, are still under the control of the SBA and will not be accessible to the public on Sunday for liability reasons.

The city and the state are still working on plans for the public land before it is opened as a passive recreation park.