as we rename the Exchange Street bridge the “Morris Nathanson Bridge” during a ceremony at the Veteran’s Memorial Amphitheatre (corner of Roosevelt and Exchange Streets)
Please continue the celebration at the Pawtucket Arts Festival Gala event, featuring the Taste of Pawtucket. (Gala & Taste of Pawtucket are $10 admission. Bridge dedication is a free event)
Morris Nathanson grew up in the Pleasant View Neighborhood of Pawtucket and attended East High School. He left after his Junior year to enlist in the U.S. Navy where he got his GRE. At 17-years old he served in the Pacific Theater from 1944-1946. After returning home, he used the GI Bill to enroll in the University of Miami at Coral Gables, Florida, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He relocated to New York City after graduation to attend the Dramatic Workshop, New School of Social Research.
After returning to Rhode Island, Mr. Nathanson worked as Design Director at Design Forum, a Division of P.M.I. He formed Nathanson, Gates & Lachowicz, a firm that offered Urban Planning Services. He was an Instructor of Interior Design at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design. During this time, he was a founding member of Trinity Square Repertory Company and was their scenic designer in their early years. He served as a design consultant to Mayor Joseph Paolino and was a member of the Providence Historic Commission, chaired by Antoinette Downing. In the most recent years, he was the Executive Director of the Johnson & Wales Culinary Arts Museum, designing the museum complex.
In 1985, Morris Nathanson relocated his company, Morris Nathanson Design, back to Pawtucket, right across from his former high school. Mr. Nathanson purchased the former Rhode Island Cardboard mill in which he relocated his business. He and his wife, Phyllis, transformed the remainder of the mill complex into live/work studios for artists. In purchasing the mill he had a vision to transform the City through the arts. He initiated the concept of live/work in mills and successfully lobbied to change the City’s Zoning Ordinance to allow that use in mills.
Mr. Nathanson has gained international prominence for his design firm, Morris Nathanson Design, which specializes in restaurant and hospitality design. The Pawtucket-based design firm is the recipient of nine national and international restaurant design awards and his works are published in numerous design publications and eleven books.
Design projects by his firm include:
Morris Nathanson is known as a tireless, hardworking businessman and is actively involved in most of the City’s key organizations. He has always offered his time and expertise whenever called upon. He serves on the City of Pawtucket Riverfront Commission, the Pawtucket 20/20 Committee, and the Pawtucket Foundation. He led a Pawtucket 20/20 Task Force to determine the appropriate use of the City’s Historic Armory. As a member of the Pawtucket Armory Association, he oversaw the design and build out of the Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre in the garage. As a Board member of the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, he designed a gallery in the City’s Visitor Center.
What began with Mr. Nathanson’s push to establish a “Creative City” became the initial catalyst for attracting hundreds of artists from Rhode Island and across the nation to live or work in Pawtucket’s mills. For his successful efforts of transforming Pawtucket into an artistic community, he was recognized by the Pawtucket Hall of Fame, received the Pawtucket Foundation Heritage Award and was honored by the Arts & Business Council of Rhode Island.
Recognizing his life work and international reputation as a designer, Mr. Nathanson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration, Hotel and Restaurant Design, from Johnson & Wales University and an Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree from Rhode Island College in 2009.
Corner of Roosevelt and Exchange Streets, between City Hall and the Fire Station and the Exchange Street bridge overlooking the Blackstone River.
Map this location in Google Maps
An open air public amphitheater.