Once called Exchange Place, Exchange Terrace, and City Hall Park, your Kennedy Plaza anchors downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Since the mid 19th century this open rectangle has served as both a civic and a transportation hub. Around you the plaza is bounded by Exchange Street to the northeast, Fulton Street to the southeast, Dorrance Street to the southwest, and Washington Street to the northwest.
At the plaza's northeastern and southwestern extremities three civic structures cap the space: City Hall, the Federal Building, and the John O. Pastore Federal Building. To the southeast a row of skyscrapers forms the central structures of the city's skyline, while to the northeast you can see Burnside Park and Union Station. In 2003 architectural historian Wm.
McKenzie Woodward called Kennedy Plaza "the city's most constantly reworked space" and observed it is "now virtually a large al fresco bus station," adding that it ultimately transcends its flaws and is "a compelling open space enhanced by and enhancing some of the city's best buildings. Notice the buildings that frame the plaza: Burnside Park and Union Station to the northeast, the skyline to the southeast.