Providence is asking the City Council to approve $282,000 more for the Trinity Repertory Company's Lederer Theater Center project, covering about half of $564,459 in added costs on the Adrian Hall Way public space. The council's Special Committee on Ways and Means takes up resolution 54944 on Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m. in Committee B on the third floor of City Hall.
In a Sept. 22 letter to the Board of Contract and Supply, the mayor's office said the city and Trinity Rep each pay 50% of project costs under a partnership agreement approved Feb. 9, 2026. The agreement set the city's amounts at $1,575,000 for fiscal 2026 and $1,650,000 for fiscal 2027, or $3,225,000 combined. The amendment raises the ceiling to $3,507,000, an increase of about 8.7%. The letter says money is available in the account named.
Where the added cost came from
The letter attributes the $564,459 to "water-utility overruns" and attaches an itemized list. The three largest lines are:
Line stops installation: $171,032
Changes to a manhole "doghouse" (labeled "SMH-2 Doghouse") and a 12-inch drain: $86,098
Providence Water test pits: $78,018
Those three come to $335,148, or about 59% of the total. The other seven lines add $229,311 and include repair of a collapsed underground sanitary line ($20,204), removal of excess soil ($50,384), a state Department of Environmental Management soils consultant ($28,900), and "Utility relocation, additional CA, survey for skate park" ($32,892). A draft change order from Gilbane, the contractor, to Trinity Rep says the site contractor found an existing clay sewer pipe collapsed on April 7, 2026, while preparing to install a trench box.
The sewer repair, soil removal, consultant and skate park survey lines do not obviously fit the letter's "water-utility" description, and the packet does not explain how they were grouped under it. It also does not show who approved each charge or whether the full $564,459 has already been paid.
Why the council votes
A Sept. 30 letter from the city's internal auditor asks that the request go to the council and its Finance Committee to determine whether it amends the capital improvement plan ordinance (2026-29, No. 249), which would require a majority vote of the council. The capital improvement plan is the city's list of funded construction projects. The resolution was introduced Oct. 15 and referred to committee.
The packet contains no statement from Trinity Rep. If the committee advances the resolution, it can reach the full council at its next regular meeting, listed for Nov. 19 at 6 p.m.
