Project Description
The Lonsdale Drive-In site is a broad floodplain terrace that was developed as an outdoor drive-in movie theater in the early 1950s. Before construction of the theater, the site was used as a pasture for many years. Approximately 23 acres of the 37-acre site were paved to construct the drive-in. The drive-in was closed in the early 1980s and the site had been vacant since then. The State of Rhode lsland purchased the site in 1998 with the intention of restoring wetlands and riparian habitat. Vestiges of the old drive-in, including two dilapidated movie screens, hundreds of speaker posts, a 75-foot tall radio antenna, and several other small structures remained on the site.
The restoration project consisted of the construction of a 7-acre wetland area and restoration of about 13 acres of upland riparian habitat. Constructed wetlands included 3.6 acres of emergent and open water habitat, and 3.4 acres of scrub/shrub and forested wetlands. The project also established a continuous wooded riparian buffer along the Blackstone River. The Rhode lsland Department of Transportation (RIDOT) also built a bicycle trail within and adjacent to this site, taking up about three acres of paved space. That work was separate from this project but benefits the aesthetics and public usability of the site.
Parties Implementing Restoration
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
DOI Project Representatives
Fish and Wildlife Service