By Alex Kuffner, Journal Staff Writer

If you don't want to watch the inauguration alone next Tuesday, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch is inviting the public to the Providence Performing Arts Center where a big screen TV will show Barack Obama being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.

Lynch, who served as a super-delegate for Obama at the Democratic National Convention, is hosting the event, which he has called the "Inauguration Watch Celebration."

"The monumental nature of this moment in history demands that there be a magnificent and accessible venue in which people can assemble to watch the Inauguration and to celebrate," Lynch said. "While millions will attend the Inauguration in our nation's capital, many millions more across America and around the world will follow the proceedings on television, radio, or through the Internet. I've chosen to stay home to join with Rhode Islanders, students, workers, senior citizens -- anyone and everyone who can come to PPAC -- to commemorate the extraordinary day that the course of our country is changed as we cross into a promising new era with President Obama."

Lynch said the event at PPAC is nonpartisan and free-of-charge. He thanked PPAC president J. Lynn Singleton and his staff for making it possible.

PPAC, 220 Weybosset St., Providence, will open its doors at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. The swearing-in ceremony for Obama and vice president-elect Joe Biden is set to begin at 11:30 a.m.