Ah...I smell Art!

NBC 10: Artist Sentenced For Secret Mall Apartment

An artist spoke publicly Tuesday about the secret apartment he built inside Providence Place nearly four years ago.

"Under better circumstances, no one would know about it," Michael Townsend told NBC 10.

Townsend said talking about the apartment means he's been found out. The artist was arrested Thursday for setting up an apartment-style space in a 750-square-foot storage area in the mall's parking garage.

Townsend and some fellow Providence artists enjoyed the space for nearly four years. It was outfitted with the comforts of home, including a television and furniture. The artists came and went without being detected by mall security.

Townsend said the artists built a cinderblock wall and nondescript utility door to keep the apartment hidden from the outside world.

Townsend, 36, posted video of the apartment on a Web site. Someone outside of his circle of friends reported him to mall security.

Townsend said his biggest regret is that he was found out and that he was in this for the long haul. He said he had big plans for that little space.

"By Christmas, the kitchen would have been installed. We already had the cabinets marked out ... The big move was getting the running bathroom going. We had a water tank planned out. It was all measured. It was just a matter of bringing water to it," Townsend said.

Whether his ambitious plan would have succeeded will never be known now that he's been caught.

"What he did was an illicit, illegal act. He was charged with breaking and entering. It's something that we truly discourage," said mall spokesman Dante Bellini.

Townsend pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of trespassing and given probation. He's not allowed back on the mall premises, something he said he understands completely.

Providence Police Maj. Stephen Campbell said he and other detectives were so intrigued they visited the apartment to see for themselves.

"I was surprised at what he was able to accomplish," Campbell said. "But what he did was clearly criminal. The mall is private property."

Townsend said he never intended to put the mall and its security in a negative light.

"Never once did we ever think, 'Oh, wow, I really duped these guys. Oh, wow, we're really getting away with something,'" Townsend said. "Not even in our vocabulary."

Townsend said he just wanted to explore the idea that you could take any space and make it a place to call home.