Series 1: Point Association, 1958 - 2002, bulk: 1986 - 1989

The Point Association was founded in 1955 and served as a community group for the Point section of Newport where Ade Bethune lived. It published a newsletter, the Green Light Bulletin, with 4-6 issues per year from 1958-2001. Two Point Association activities were planning and fundraising for the creation of Storer Park between 1966 and 1972, and formation of a “History and Archives Project” Committee to help gather, organize, and preserve historical materials of the Point area and of the Point Association.

Other activities of the Point Association involved opposition to a proposed “Circulator Road” project between 1986 and 1988. This road proposal was viewed as a re-design of a failed Connector Road project proposal by the R.I. DOT. The main characteristic of the project that was opposed by the community members included the widening of America’s Cup Avenue and Memorial Boulevard into a four-lane, limited access highway. Point Association members as well as other community group members opposed the road plan because they felt the road development would create a division in the city and would “adversely affect the character and beauty of the City and the safety and convenience of the full-time residents.” The Newport City Council rejected the DOT plan in 1988.