Three to Six Hours in Rutland, the Marble City

The blue-collar railroad city has embraced its artsy side. Here are some suggestions for things to do and places to eat, drink, gather and explore while you're there.

By KEN PICARD
Published August 21, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.



"Across Time and Space" by Guohua Xu - KEN PICARD ©️ SEVEN DAYS
KEN PICARD ©️ SEVEN DAYS"Across Time and Space" by Guohua Xu

Art awaits around virtually every corner in downtown Rutland. It's splashed across park benches outside city hall in the form of brightly colored paintings of geese and owls. It creeps like vines across courtyard walls and brick alleys that host stunning murals, some three stories tall. It sprouts as red tulip sculptures that double as sidewalk folding chairs, offering respite to weary pedestrians. And it springs from sculptures carved from the white stone quarried nearby that earned Rutland its moniker: Marble City.

Rutland still experiences the drugs, crime and homelessness that made it the New York Times' poster child for Vermont's opioid crisis in a 2014 story. Many travelers see little more of the city than its strip of big-box stores and fast-food eateries along Route 7. They dismiss the state's third-largest city with a disparaging nickname that likens Rutland to a certain glitzy but soulless desert metropolis in southern Nevada.

Yet this impression of the city is as outdated as its Diamond Run Mall, which closed in 2019. Rutland's ongoing revitalization efforts, more than a decade in the works, are finally putting the city's gritty reputation in the rearview mirror. Visitors who venture into the heart of Rutland will sense a whole new mood among its residents, workers and business owners: excitement, optimism and pride in a city that's once again on the rise.

Here are some suggestions for things to do and places to eat, drink, gather and explore while you're there.

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