The town's $6 million reconstruction of Main Street is still in design. Construction is tentatively targeted for fall 2027, and Town Manager Andy Nota has called even that date a "moving target." Meanwhile, from July through September a steakhouse opened, so did a portrait studio and a second yoga studio, and a 24-year-old coffeehouse closed, all between 205 and 410 Main.
Earlier this summer we called 2026 the last Main Street season before the rebuild. The town's own schedule has moved past that. The better way to read downtown this fall is that the next version of Main Street is showing up one lease at a time, and the formal redesign will be drawn around whatever mix of businesses is open when the plans are finished.
What the Reconstruction Schedule Says Now
The project runs from First Avenue and Rocky Hollow Road to Division Street. At a public meeting at Swift Community Center on April 30, designers from Pare Corporation and Traverse Landscape Architects set out the scope: roadway, crosswalks, street design, lighting, sidewalks, and public amenities. East Greenwich News reported that the team's stated goal goes beyond how the street works. They also want to improve how it feels as a place where people gather, shop, and interact.
Funding is a mix of state and federal money, including American Rescue Plan funds, grants, and support from the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank. The most visible upgrade, burying the overhead power lines, is still on the "maybe" list because it would add more than $1 million, and possibly much more, to the budget. Nota said the town could choose to add money if residents back a particular element:
"With support from the community, if there's an element that costs a little bit more, whatever that might be, the town could weigh in and decide if they want to bond or redirect funding to add to the $6 million."
Pare showed four design alternatives, each changing sidewalk width, roadway width, and whether bike lanes would be added. According to East Greenwich News, many in the room opposed options that would cut parking, move curb lines significantly, or put bike lanes on Main Street. Nota said the town has been working with the state on a bicycle route along Crompton, Rocky Hollow, or Water Street instead, so riders could get through the center of town without using Main Street.
Amy Archer, a senior project engineer at Pare, named intersections and crosswalks as the most urgent fixes. She recommended more evenly spaced crosswalks, advance warning signs, and high-visibility striping. The plan was to present a preliminary design publicly in the following months. For this week, RIDOT's travel advisory for October 10 to 16 lists no downtown Main Street construction or detour, though the agency notes that schedules can change.
So for at least another year, the curbs, crosswalks, and overhead wires will stay as they are. The businesses are what's changing.
The Street, Address by Address
In street-number order, here is what has changed on Main Street since midsummer:
- 205 Main, Low Key. The cocktail bar opened in 2021 and has been closed since a significant flood in early 2025. East Greenwich News reported that at the September 14 Town Council meeting, Town Clerk Leigh Carney said the bar won't reopen.
- 241 Main, Ferrara's on Main Street. This steakhouse and cocktail lounge opened July 10 in the former Blackstone space. Owner Daniel Ferrara also owns a construction company and finished the renovation in 10 days.
- 333 Main, Vibe Yoga. The original studio is staying open after the expansion up the street.
- 351 Main, Ateliers Massart. Audrey Massart has 17 years as a portrait photographer and used to work from a studio in her home. She has now opened a storefront in the space The White Elephant once occupied.
- 410 Main, Vibe Yoga's second studio. It opened August 1.
The biggest change isn't on that list because no street number was published for it. Starbucks closed its Main Street store at the end of September after 24 years. It opened there in 2002. It was one of 250 stores in a second round of closures the company announced that week. East Greenwich News pointed out that the town still has several coffee shops, including another Starbucks at 1191 Division Street. The paper also called the closing a loss, especially for younger residents who had made the Main Street store part of their day.
Why the New Arrivals Matter to the Redesign
The design team wants the rebuilt street to feel like a place to linger. Two storefronts of unknown future and three new businesses with very different hours will shape what lingering looks like.
Ferrara's is the clearest example. According to East Greenwich News, the restaurant focuses on steaks, cocktails, and what its owner calls "an elevated dining experience." That includes Wagyu beef served on a hot rock, tomahawk steaks cut tableside, and a newly added raw bar with oysters and shrimp cocktail. It's open Tuesday through Thursday from 4 to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. It's closed Mondays. Ferrara has said he hopes to expand lunch hours, add a weekend brunch, and grow catering. "We've been noticing a lot of returning customers," manager Madison Smith told East Greenwich News.
Ateliers Massart and the second Vibe studio bring daytime, appointment-based traffic to the north end of the street. Massart told the paper the studio will focus on photography with an emphasis on reaching people who might not usually think about sitting for a professional portrait.
These details tie back to the April meeting. A resident asked the designers to consider how the street feels at night as well as during the day. The resident also raised the question of how benches and gathering spots are used after the bars close. Low Key, which East Greenwich News described as a late-night destination, is now off the map for good. The Starbucks storefront, which fed daytime foot traffic for more than two decades, is empty. Whatever fills those two spaces will help decide whether the benches, lighting, and wider sidewalks the designers proposed get used mostly in the morning, mostly at dinner, or late at night.
A Birthday Year on the Old Pavement
East Greenwich was founded on October 31, 1677. On Saturday, October 24, the town launches EG350, a yearlong celebration that starts a year ahead of the 350th anniversary. The anniversary year runs into fall 2027, the same season the reconstruction is tentatively scheduled to begin. If that target holds, the town will hold its entire 350th year on Main Street as it is today.
The opening day starts on Main Street:
- 10 a.m. A colonial-themed Halloween parade leaves Swift Community Center and heads down to Main Street. Trick-or-treating at Main Street businesses follows.
- Noon to 4 p.m. The Heritage Festival takes over Swift and Academy Field. It includes an opening ceremony and flag raising, historical reenactors, a town crier, a petting zoo, crafts, demonstrations, food trucks, and music from The Sliding Capos.
- Hourly A new 20-minute film, "The Story of East Greenwich," is screened throughout the festival.
The band is a fitting link to the past. Rachel Arbige, the EG350 project manager and recreation manager for East Greenwich Community Services, told East Greenwich News that "the Capos actually played for the 300th celebration."
Two more downtown dates on the Chamber's 2026 schedule round out the year. Small Business Saturday runs November 28 from noon to 4 p.m., and the Town Hall Tree Lighting is December 5 at 5:30 p.m. Both depend on the shops and restaurants along the street. This year's trick-or-treat route and Small Business Saturday will include businesses that weren't open last fall, at 241, 351, and 410 Main.
The next public milestone for the reconstruction is the preliminary design the Pare and Traverse team promised to present for community feedback. That presentation is when the parking, curb-line, and power-line questions come back before the public, and by then the newest storefronts on the street will have their own stake in the answers.
If you own near Main Street or are thinking about a property near the reconstruction area, ONE Residential follows the 2027 plans and the street's changing roster of businesses closely. Request a Private Consultation, and we'll go through what the project could mean for your block.
