Downtown Providenciales

Downtown is located in central Providenciales, close to the Providenciales International Airport (PLS). It is home to many government offices, the post office, small restaurants and shops, the Graceway Smart grocery store, and the Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Complex (a popular location for Town Hall meetings). Although one of the busiest areas on the island, Downtown's building density tends to be low and spread out, and blends into Kew Town on the northern edge.

Today, Downtown is primarily comprised of non-tourism-oriented businesses and services, while Grace Bay is the primary hub of tourism activity. Downtown was formerly the undisputed center of activity on Providenciales—however, most higher-end businesses have left the area. This is due to a number of factors, including a lack of general maintenance, flooding issues, and overall poor planning control.

There have historically been no hotels or resorts located in Downtown, due to the lack of a nearby beach. There are currently two small hotels that cater to those visiting the Turks and Caicos on business.

Downtown is actually not one of the oldest settlements on Providenciales, and it essentially did not exist before the 1980s. Prior to the introduction of tourism to Providenciales, the small coastal settlements of Blue Hills, The Bight, and Five Cays were the only places that had more than a few buildings.

Downtown is the location of the Town Center Mall, the country’s first such establishment. This area was also the short-lived location of a local Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) franchise, which closed in the mid-1990s.

Flooding

The Downtown region of Providenciales was originally low-lying marshland, with shallow ponds, waterways, and mud flats with silver buttonwood groves. Cheshire Hall Creek, the salt ponds to the southeast of Downtown, at one time extended further inland as well.

After the construction of the modern Providenciales International Airport in the 1980s, crushed limestone “quarry” fill was used to raise the ground level of many of the various parcels that saw development. Usually adding 2–3 feet (0.6–1 m) of elevation, these works created new drainage issues in many places.

Because of the low elevation, Downtown is susceptible to flooding, both from heavy rainfall and hurricane storm surges. Drainage engineering through both small channels and shallow wells has taken place multiple times over the years, yet remains largely ineffective.