Downtown Providence's bumper-cars-on-ice attraction has proven more popular than officials anticipated, easily bringing in enough revenue to cover the cost of buying the 16-car fleet.
The Providence Journal reports that rides at the downtown skating rink brought in about $132,000 from January through March, well above the $86,000 cost of the cars.
A spokesman for Mayor Jorge Elorza says the idea was to draw more visitors to the Kennedy Plaza area and revamp its image as solely a business and transit hub.
The bumper cars have already been switched over into summer mode, with harder tires designed to work on the bare concrete of the rink. The city plans to buy a large soccer ball to let riders play bumper-car soccer
Copyright AP - Associated Press
