Breakers’ welcome center opponents petition for alternatives

NEWPORT'S BEHAN Bros. has been selected as the prime contractor to construct the $5.4 million Breakers Welcome Center expected to open next year./ COURTESY PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY AND EPSTEIN JOSLIN ARCHITECTS
NEWPORT'S BEHAN Bros. has been selected as the prime contractor to construct the $5.4 million Breakers Welcome Center expected to open next year. / COURTESY PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF NEWPORT COUNTY AND EPSTEIN JOSLIN ARCHITECTS

NEWPORT – If you think the fight over The Breakers welcome center was called with the recent state Supreme Court decision to not consider the issue, well, not so fast. The court essentially allowed the Preservation Society of Newport County to proceed with its plans. But opponents have reorganized and are trying to encourage the society to reconsider.

A newly formed organization, Friends of Newport Preservation, has a Facebook page and has posted an online petition, trying to influence the Preservation Society to consider alternatives. The Preservation Society, which owns the famous Vanderbilt mansion, has said it plans to proceed with the construction of a welcome center on the grounds, aimed at the tourists and visitors who flock to tours of the mansion.

Friends of Newport Preservation on social media says it includes members of the Vanderbilt family, professionals, preservationists and the Newport Neighborhood Association that has fought the construction of the welcome center. The organization has 213 supporters for its online petition. At 500 names, the organizer plans to deliver the petition to the Preservation Society. The petition cites the need to “preserve and restore the historic landscape of The Breakers including the historic gardens and walkways reflecting the original 1895 design of Bowditch & Bowditch.”

The group has not filed incorporation papers with the R.I. Secretary of State’s Office.

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