A panoramic view from the Clayhead Trail.
Located on 190 acres in the northeastern part of Block Island, the Clayhead Trail offers some of the most spectacular views along the trail’s bluffs. On a clear day, you can see South County, Newport, and more.
NEW SHOREHAM – A year after the Harborside Inn burned down, a gaping hole still remains in its place.
The 19th-century inn’s picturesque gabled windows and spacious porch used to be the first thing Block Island visitors saw when they stepped off the ferry. Now they’re greeted by a sea of airy tents housing rental bikes and mopeds – which has been the source of controversy all summer.
“It’s awful,” said the first prison warden, Keith Stover, in May. “I wish I could put it nicer, but it’s true. It’s awful.”
Harborside’s owners are looking to remodel and have proposed building a brand new hotel that would match the look of the old hotel, but the city still needs to approve the plans.
Will a new Harborside Inn be built? The current status
The charred remains of Harborside were demolished in September 2023, about a month after the fire.
Later that fall, VVO Real Estate Holding – co-owned by Michael Finnimore and his ex-wife Vaux Finnimore – applied for permission to replace the building with a new $8.5 million inn with a façade nearly identical to the original.
The Historic District Commission gave preliminary approval to the plan in November, albeit with reservations. Commissioners were generally impressed with the proposal, but said some issues require further review, such as the plan to restore the historic dome.
Meanwhile, the project will also require a special permit from the Zoning Board of Review because plans call for the new Harborside building to be about 7 feet taller than city ordinance allows – not including the dome.
The original Harborside was lower than many of the other buildings on Water Street, architect Glen Fontecchio pointed out in November. But its replacement needs higher ceilings to meet modern building codes, so that would change.
VVO Holding applied for the exemption in March 2024 but has repeatedly asked to delay the public hearing. The matter is expected to be on the agenda for the Zoning Board’s Aug. 28 meeting.
Michael Finnimore told the Providence Journal he hopes construction will begin in the fall.
“Tent city” causes controversy
This summer, the empty lot where Harborside once stood caused quite a stir.
In May, the city issued a zoning citation to Finnimore, saying it was violating local ordinances by using the space to rent mopeds and store cargo containers.
Some residents derisively nicknamed the area “Tent City.” Stover, the first supervisor, said at a city council meeting in May that he received a text message asking, “When is Carnival coming to town?”
“As it is now, it looks terrible,” he said. “It’s an eyesore and the first thing you see when you get off the ferry.”
Elizabeth Noonan, VVO’s attorney, said the shipping containers contained items recovered from the port and suggested hiding them with artificial ivy – a suggestion that the city council did not like.
Later that summer, however, some year-round residents raised their voices to protect the shipping containers, pointing out that some of them belonged to business owners who were affected by the fire and had no other storage options for their equipment and inventory.
In July, the building inspectorate agreed to lift the notice of violation.
In a letter to the planning authority on behalf of the staff of the neighboring Odd Fellows Café, Erin Groll noted that the island was “fortunate to be able to have a conversation about the quality of the view after the fire rather than lamenting the loss of life.”
