December 13, 2010 | Print this page | Share This |
The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation is set to hold face-to-face preliminary discussions early this week at the request of BMW-Oracle officials. The meeting comes after BMW officials announced concern with hosting final event in San Francisco and RIEDC formally submitted its proposal on Wednesday December 8 to hold either the qualifying Challenger Series competitions or the Championship Finals for the 34th America’s Cup.
In anticipation of the immediate benefits and long term gains that come from this opportunity, the state has commenced an expedited infrastructure planning and engineering design process for 170 acres of state-owned land and marine assets at Fort Adams State Park in Newport.
“Rhode Island’s compact size gives us a unique advantage in establishing a unified, streamlined approach in taking advantage of this opportunity to showcase the state’s assets and leadership to a global audience,” said Keith Stokes, Chair of the Rhode Island America's Cup Planning Committee and executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. “Public infrastructure improvements to Fort Adams will not only enable Rhode Island to host an America’s Cup event but will also establish us as an international best-in-class sailing center to draw a wide-range of sailing and yachting event for generations to come.”
An America’s Cup event in Rhode Island has the potential of becoming the largest sporting, tourism and media event in the state's history. The RIEDC will serve as the single-point coordinating agency for all aspects of the event – providing an efficient and responsive framework for project planning and implementation.