Up, Up and Away at Warwick Site

Local residents lined the fenced-off section of Pleasant Street Thursday afternoon to watch a crane lower into place the steel beams that will be the foundation of the .

As the crane opertor moved the massive beams into the place, workers continued to work on the 38,000-square-foot building's foundation sections.

The building is being operated by the Warwick Realty Trust and will occupy the space where the former Warwick Theater and several surrounding buildings used to be.

To allow for the building, the town is expected to replace the blinking traffic light at School and Pleasant streets with a full traffic-control light to handle the increased number of vehicles.

When the building was approved by the town's Zoning Board of Appeals last spring, the most prominent prospective tenant was a new movie house with two 100-seat theaters for which the Warwick Theater Community Foundation is trying to raise more than $1 million to build.

The building is also designed to include a restaurant. The design calls for a largely brick building with the three-story portion being near the bookstore and the one-story portion being closer to Anderson Street.

The approved design features more set-backs for the upper floors and may be powered by geo-thermal energy and thermal panels on the roof.