Course quality assessments, world language materials, social studies instruction. A Rhode Island district is looking for course quality assurance assessments, while a Pennsylvania school system seeks exploratory world language programming. In addition, a district in Louisiana is in the market for social studies instruction.

Active/upcoming solicitations for goods/services

Providence Public School District, R.I.

Focus: Course quality assurance assessments
Students: 24,000
Deadline: June…

The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) recently announced that its 2024 Conference & Expo will take place at the Omni Hotel in Providence, R.I. from September 16-20. The event remains a pivotal platform for the marine electronics industry, featuring extensive technical training sessions, educational tracks and networking opportunities designed to advance industry knowledge and business growth.

Attendees will be able to engage in over 20 manufacturer-specific technical training sessions and more than 10 educational tracks covering a range of topics from business management to advanced installation techniques. The manufacturer expo hall will showcase the latest marine electronic innovations with
expanded hours for 2024. Receptions will offer additional networking opportunities on the first two evenings and the NMEA Product of Excellence Awards Banquet is scheduled for Thursday evening.

“I am thrilled to see the NMEA Conference & Expo heading to Providence, RI, a hub for marine industry professionals in the Northeast. As we continue to rotate the location of our event nationwide, it enables greater access and participation from our diverse membership,” Mark Reedenauer, NMEA President & Executive Director, said. “This year, we’re excited to once again offer in-person technical training directly from manufacturers, some of which is exclusively available only at the NMEA event. We invite industry professionals from all sectors to join us for this unparalleled training and networking opportunity.”

Registration for the conference will open in late May 2024, with options for full-week or single-day passes. NMEA Dealer, Master Dealer, Boat Builder, and Trade members receive a complimentary registration as part of their membership benefits.

NMEA will also offer the following full-day marine electronics installer training courses. A different registration fee applies for these day-long classes:

• Basic NMEA Installer Training (MEI), Monday, Sept. 16
• Basic NMEA 2000 Installer Training, Tuesday, Sept. 17
• Advanced NMEA 2000 Installer Training, Wednesday, Sept. 18
• Advanced NMEA Installer Training (AMEI), Thursday, Sept. 19
• Advanced NMEA 2000 Installer Training, Friday, Sept. 20

More information and a detailed preliminary schedule of all 2024 Conference & Expo events will be added and available on the NMEA website in the coming months.

PROVIDENCE — A local real estate firm is proposing a 30-story apartment tower next to the Hilton hotel on Atwells Avenue — a project that has been nearly two decades in the making.

PRI I LP, a firm that also owns the Hilton hotel, submitted preliminary plans to the city to demolish the hotel’s parking garage and a one-story function room attached to the building in order to construct a residential building with 216 units with an eight-story podium parking deck with 248 spaces.

The hotel building at 21 Atwells Ave., which was formerly the Holiday Inn, is not part of the new construction, according to the plans. First constructed in 1966, the former Holiday Inn was the first new hotel in Providence since the Biltmore (now known as the Graduate Providence Hotel) was built in 1922.

According to PRI I’s plans, the apartments would consist of a mix of 18 studio, 108 one-bedroom units, 82 two-bedroom units, and eight three-bedroom units, according to plans unveiled during a Downtown Design Review Committee meeting on Monday night. The committee approved the preliminary plan stage of review for new construction; final plans will need to be submitted to the city for review and approval.

PRI I is a subsidiary of The Procaccianti Group, a Cranston-based real estate investment and management company. The company has been involved in the development of several key properties around the state, including the new Neon Marketplaces and the Renaissance Providence Hotel. In the plans, PRI I has dubbed the proposed building as the “TPG Tower.”

If PRI I’s plans become reality, the tower would stand more than 300 feet above Atwells Avenue, and 326 feet above the dead-end street that connects the hotel with the Amica Mutual Pavilion. It would also become a prominent piece of Providence’s skyline along Interstate 95.

This isn’t the first time Procaccianti has proposed a residential tower at the site.

Around 2005, Procaccianti had proposed “The Power Block,” a nearly $1 billion real estate investment that reached from the former Westin Hotel (now the Omni Providence Hotel), past the Rhode Island Convention Center and the AMP, and up to what is now the Hilton hotel. At the time, Procaccianti executives said the “power block” would connect a corridor of shops, restaurants, hotels, and event spaces in order to attract large conventions to Providence.

Of that hefty proposal, $150 million would go to renovating the Holiday Inn to become a Hilton, add a nationally-known steak restaurant and coffee shop, and to construct a 27-story tower with 150 condominiums. Procaccianti did renovate the hotel around 2006 and added a Starbucks store on the ground floor. The Vig, a sports bar, currently serves burgers and wings in the hotel’s lobby. But the residential tower was never constructed.

Both of the existing structures that would be demolished were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s and do not have any historical significance. The company also deemed that rehabilitation or adaption of the structures was “infeasible.”

“Given the housing shortage in the Providence area, the residential component was more viable than commercial, retail, or other types of uses,” wrote Ron M. Hadar, Procaccianti’s general counsel, in the plans filed to the city.

It’s not yet clear when the company plans to begin the demolition. Ralph Izzi, Procaccianti’s vice president of public affairs, said the firm is still in its pre-development phase. In an email to the Globe on Monday night, he declined to say what the project will cost.

“Safe to say this will be one of the most substantial developments in the last 50 years in downtown Providence since we built the 32-story residential (The Residences Providence) tower in 2007, which — at the time — was the tallest high rise built in the prior 34 years,” said Izzi.

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.