On September 4, Councilman Juan Pichardo introduced a resolution that would, if passed, call for a temporary pause in the demolition of the historic Gilbert Stuart Middle School on Princeton Street.
His action follows an August 12 meeting Pichardo convened on the demolition plan, as reported in the Providence Eye. At that meeting, community members overwhelmingly expressed their desires to preserve the building. They were also angered by a decision-making process that did not engage or inform the people most affected by the plan.
The effort to delay demolition has been led by Elmwood community activists Jennifer Dalton Vincent and Diego Arene-Morley. The Providence Preservation Society has also been vocal in insisting that the City first comply with state law requiring state review and approval of assessments that all alternatives to demolition of an historic building have been explored.
Pichardo’s proposed resolution calls for a thorough public review of the Mayor’s and School Department’s claim that the historic Gilbert Stuart School on Princeton Street in the Southside cannot possibly be adapted to meet the future needs of Providence students.
The resolution requests that the City provide the cost analyses, building assessments, and other documents supporting the demolition decision. Finally, the resolution calls for a moratorium on demolition while that review takes place.
Before taking effect, the resolution must be approved first by City Council Special Committee on Health, Opportunity, Prosperity, and Education, which Pichardo chairs, and then by the full Council.
The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, the state office which must review and approve demolitions of historic buildings, will also discuss the fate of Gilbert Stuart at its meeting on September 10. That meeting starts at 9:30 at the West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation, Sankofa Community Room, 70 Westfield Street in Providence.
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