State charter to get new encasement system

PROVIDENCE – Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee and Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis last week announced plans for a new state-of-the-art encasement system for the Rhode Island Colonial Charter of 1663.
According to a news release, Artex, a fine arts moving company, wrapped, crated and transported the charter, in an environmentally controlled vehicle, to Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover, Mass., with a state police escort. Artex built a custom crate for packaging and transportation.
The conservation center is world renowned and performed conservation work on the charter in 1996. At that time, a new inner-display case within the steel vault was constructed.
In the coming weeks, the center will remove the charter from its current mounting, make a full scan and create a digital print of the same size. Once the full-size reproduction of the charter is ready, it will be mounted into the window-mat and frame assemblage for public viewing in the Charter Museum at the Statehouse.
The release said $200,000 of the $700,000 project cost is being funded through grants and charitable contributions. The remaining $500,000 was allocated to the Secretary of State’s Office from the General Assembly for fiscal 2015. •