Dam removed on Pawtuxet River

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) - People gathered to celebrate the restoration of the Pawtuxet River on Friday, following the removal of a dam.

The demolition of the dam under the Broad Street Bridge in Pawtuxet Village means fish like herring will be free to move up stream to reproduce. Additionally, officials say the river will run cleaner.

"We've worked over the years to get this water clean, and this is another step, taking down this dam, to provide 7 and a half miles of access up this river," Governor Lincoln Chafee told the crowd at the event.

As part of the festivities, kayakers paddled downstream from Cranston to Narraganett Bay.

With the river back to its natural state, the water will now go in and out with the tides.

"The landscape is much more interesting than the stationary spillway that was here since 1924," Ritda Holahan of the Pawtuxet River Authority told Eyewitness News.