The town council of nearby Middletown has been under scrutiny for several months as efforts have been made to redevelop a memorial plot of land, known locally as “Pottsy Field”, as well as some of the surrounding area.
This plan involves redeveloping a plot that is currently home to recreational fields, as well as a veteran memorial dedicated to a Sergeant Potts, for mixed-use, including residential, commercial, and municipal usage.
As the tension has been rising over time, some council members have taken a different approach to addressing the concerns of their constituents, going so far as to publish a response to public outcries in the local paper. Town Councilor Barbara A. VonVillas published a letter titled, “Let’s Focus on the Big Picture”, hoping to directly address opposition to the project. In her article, VonVillas wrote “From my perspective, the major objections appear to be related to resistance to change.”
In another article titled, “Change is Inevitable for Middletown”, VonVillas digressed and expressed her view of residents’ concerns stating, “Most of it is built on emotional or personal bias leading to misinformation and/or misinterpretation rather than fact.”
A special town meeting was held this past Wednesday, September 16th, 2025, concerning zoning changes that would make the development possible, where residents expressed their concerns.
According to documentation published on the town’s website, MiddletownRI.gov, the official plan consists of a 144-unit hotel, 150 apartment units, approximately 30,000 square feet of retail space, and municipal space.
The development company’s attorney, Gerard Galvin, stated that the “initial concept back in 2022 called for the respectful relocation of the recreational fields, including Pottsy Field, which again was a concept that had been recommended by many studies conducted by the town since 2011”.
Roughly 150 residents were in attendance, and many voiced their opinions in protest to the development project. During the meeting, Middletown resident Michael Lopes stated:
You’re taking our public land, which is all ours, and you’re giving it to these people. You already did it to third beach. Third beach used to be free to Middletowners—to go swimming there, right? And you took that away from us and we gotta pay for it. Now you’re doing it to Potts’ field.
Christopher Rowe, a decorated navy veteran and arguably the most outspoken in opposing the development project stated in his speech to the council, “By federal deed it is a recreational space in perpetuity. You have no right to unilaterally decide to desecrate and destroy a veteran memorial”.
Rowe went on to address the council directly stating:
Nineteen years ago, Pottsy field was dedicated as a veteran memorial. Just three and a half years later, the town council, including several of you, voted in a resolution on September 9th, 2021, declaring Middletown to be a Purple Heart town in honor of veterans who earned their purple hearts. Staff Sergeant Christopher Potts earned his purple hearts; he died earning it.
Sergeant Potts’ sister, Jerry Kim Evans, was also in attendance and expressed that their family does not support the plan to redevelop the land dedicated to her brother.
In just the last few months, Middletown residents have proactively expressed resistance to the plan as an official vote on the agenda approaches. A second special meeting is scheduled and expected to convene at Middletown High School, starting at 6 PM on September 30th.
