Cities look to shared history in heritage bid

A NEWPORT LANDMARK: The Colony House, which anchors the City by the Sea's town square, could be part of a combined Newport/Providence World Heritage Site designation. / COURTESY THE NEWPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A NEWPORT LANDMARK: The Colony House, which anchors the City by the Sea's town square, could be part of a combined Newport/Providence World Heritage Site designation. / COURTESY THE NEWPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Getting a “World Heritage” designation for Newport is no easy task, but with a tip from the National Park Service, Newport is trying again and adding Providence into the mix.

There are only 23 World Heritage sites in the United States. The designation, which seeks to protect and promote cultural and natural heritage sites that represent “universal value,” is prized for the recognition it bestows on properties that carry its emblem. That includes its ability to attract travelers from around the globe.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization oversees 1,031 heritage sites around the world, more than 800 of them culturally based.

In 2007, a Newport group sought placement on the National Park Service’s tentative list of U.S. sites under consideration. One proposal was for the “Gilded Age” and the Newport mansions; the other was for the city’s Colonial history, said Ruth Taylor, executive director of the Newport Historical Society.

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Federal officials said no to both ideas, but suggested that the Colonial application might have merit if Newport leaders zeroed in on the concept of religious freedom and tolerance, Taylor said.

Before he left office, former Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee established a commission, co-chaired by Taylor and Jonathan Stevens, charged with exploring how to win World Heritage status. That group is now pursuing the angle of religious freedom as a way of promoting the state’s history and, potentially, a high level of cultural tourism.

“It’s funny, because we’re a little place and you’d think we could get this right,” Taylor quipped.

In fact, the story of religious freedom and tolerance in Newport cannot be told without including Providence and its founder, Roger Williams, said Taylor and C. Morgan Grefe, executive director of the Rhode Island Historical Society and a commission member.

“It’s not only a Rhode Island story but it’s a story that has been long buried and overwhelmed by other stories out of New York and Boston,” said Grefe. “That is a story better told by joining Newport and Providence together. They were working [on religious liberty] together in the 17th century.”

The NPS has 10 sites on its tentative list and is considering adding up to 10 more. It could make a decision on which sites are on the new list by the fall of 2016, according to Stephen Morris, chief of the NPS Office of International Affairs.

So far, 150 sites are competing just to be on the tentative list, he said.

The local commission’s pitch explains how a full-fledged application would show that Rhode Island’s “lively experiment” in religious tolerance reflects one major criterion: outstanding universal value. A combined Newport/Providence World Heritage site would reflect a living cultural tradition, according to the panel.

Some of the sites that could be included are the Colony House, which anchors Newport’s town square, the nearby Great Friends Meeting House, the oldest surviving house of worship in the state, and Trinity Church.

In Providence, there’s the Roger Williams National Memorial, which was once the center of a settlement Williams founded. Williams helped ensure that “soul liberty, toleration, diversity and separation of church and state” were legally protected, according to a letter from the commission to the NPS.

While he would not comment on the Newport/Providence proposal, Morris noted that proposals with noncontiguous sites are considered “serial” proposals and must follow a set of special rules.

“Once you get to the full-blown proposal, it’s no exaggeration to say it can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to file a full application,” Morris said.

Taylor said that in order to do the private fundraising that’s required, $100,000 is probably a base level for what it would cost to prepare an application.

“If we’re on the tentative list we can raise that money,” she said.

Taylor and Grefe note that even if the religious freedom theme across Providence and Newport doesn’t make the tentative list, the state could use it to promote historic tourism.

No matter how challenging the process, says Evan Smith, president and CEO of Discover Newport, it’s worth doing for the marketing value. Communities with World Heritage status “were excited to use it as a seal of approval.

“There are cultural travelers who will look at the World Heritage status and say, ‘I want to go to those sites,’ ” he said. “This [could] give us an opportunity to attract more of the type of travelers we’d like to see in Newport and throughout Rhode Island.” •

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  1. This is a very exciting possibility!
    I recently started a walking and tasting tour in the Washington Sq. & the Point neighborhoods of Newport where I combine History, Architecture & Culture as part of the walking portion of the tour.
    One of several of the historic stories I tell is how Newport was settled and how RI was the birthplace of secular democracy in the new world and they absolutely love hearing these stories. People are as impressed with the historical stories as they are with the local food.In fact, there is such an amazing depth of early American History in these neighborhoods it’s hard to know when or where to stop and I am a novice.
    NPS does many great walking tours and I tell people all the time to go to on their tours. But still I am very surprised that there are not more people walking around these neighborhoods exploring on their own during the height of the season instead of shopping down on Thames St. or on the several wharves.
    This designation stressing our Colonial Heritage makes so much obvious sense, It’s a great opportunity and very much deserving.