Newport Collaborative Architects Inc. founder, principal and CEO John K. Grosvenor has designed more than 75 projects that have earned federal historic preservation tax credits. Grosvenor spoke to Providence Business News about how historic preservation has changed over the years and why it’s important in Rhode Island.
PBN: You have been working in historic preservation and renovation design for about three decades. How has that field of architecture changed over the years in Rhode Island?
GROSVENOR: Architecture has evolved from a practice of conspicuous consumption – designing expensive second homes in resort pockets – to suddenly a practice emphasizing sustainability, where the buildings now have to demonstrate awareness and pragmatism in their carbon footprints. Fortunately, historic preservation is regarded as the ultimate recycling program and Rhode Island is indeed fortunate to have more historic structures than any state, with the exception of New Jersey. Rhode Island is a great place to practice architecture and indeed both Newport and Providence have proved to be effective architectural laboratories in terms of their built environment with more than 300 years of inventory to both study and rehabilitate.
Historic preservation, thanks to Rhode Island’s once robust and successful R.I. Historic Preservation Investment Tax Credit program, became a household word from 2002 to 2007. The populous saw incredible examples of adaptive reuse that made a difference. The former Masonic Temple that had lain fallow since the Great Depression was brought back to life as a new four-star hotel, providing a symbol of prosperity adjacent to our Statehouse. Royal Mills, which once lay in ruins, has become home to many families and Ashton Mills and Slatersville Mills have been brought back as thriving town-center housing in heretofore at-risk neighborhoods.
PBN: How is preservation affected by a sour economy? Are there more renovations and fewer new construction projects out there right now?
GROSVENOR: Historic preservation was dealt a crippling blow by the cancellation of the Historic Preservation Investment Tax Credit program. Fortunately, the legislature allowed for a rather extensive grandfathering period that left approximately $1 billion of tax credit construction to continue for the next five years. The Wall Street market collapse has frightened all sane clients into a long holding pattern on both new and preservation or renovation projects. Unfortunately for architects, this two-year-old economic downturn has taken its toll on our workload. We, like many architects, have had to go through a reduction in our staff. I would say that all markets appear stalled with the exception of schools and infrastructure projects.
PBN: What projects are you working on?
GROSVENOR: We are working on a focused range of projects that include a new 30-story high rise condominium tower in federal hill that will take several years to design and will hopefully prove shovel-ready when the market returns. Our intermodal “people-mover” is currently under construction at the T.F. Green Airport. Perhaps some of our most exciting work is coming through [R.I. Department of Transportation,] with whom we have been involved in creating the look for the new Sakonnet and Pawtucket bridges.
PBN: Because you have worked extensively with historic tax credits, do you have any thoughts about Rhode Island shuttering its credit program to new projects? Should the program be reinstated?
GROSVENOR: I am proud that Rhode Island [was among the first states to have a] historic tax credit program, but unfortunately our state’s great success brought down the initiative, since the cost in rebates far exceeded everyone’s prediction. That being said, the program has been estimated – by Grow Smart Rhode Island – to return from $5 to $7 for every $1 invested by the state. The funding imbalance became physically evident when the state coffers became significantly depleted, while the municipalities became the sole beneficiaries of the newly rehabbed properties’ taxes. I am certain that this funding imbalance can be fixed with some creative thinking. I would recommend that the towns and cities offer the first five-year tax increase back to the state treasury to help replenish the program’s cost. After five years the tax bonus could go back to the local tax roles. The program should be reinstated – it serves to protect our uniqueness and history for future generations. It is truly a wonderful program and represents the greenest of all construction.
We at NCA have found in more than 1,800 projects that rehabilitation is always less expensive then new construction – the rub is usually that the [buildout] may seem to be a bit compromised by existing constraints. As architects we strive to demonstrate how the adaptive reuse of historically significant properties far outweighs the perceived efficiencies of building new.
PBN: You have been on the board of directors at Preserve Rhode Island for years. Could you talk about that organization and what it has accomplished?
GROSVENOR: I am presently chairman of the board at Preserve Rhode Island, which is a statewide nonprofit for historic preservation issues. We steward five historic properties that include Lippitt House in Providence; Blithewold Mansion, which has a separate local nonprofit managing its property, in Bristol; Dexter House in North Providence; Walker House in East Providence; and Hannah’s Rock in North Kingstown. We also provide resources, technical assistance and support to other historic preservation nonprofits and have initiated a historic properties coalition that services close to 100 other nonprofits. We work under the sponsorship of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and as such strive to assist other preservation and historical societies. We are extremely blessed in that our new director, Valerie Talmage, has both conservation land trust experience and a historic preservation background. We are currently working on a project “watch list” that will create case study focuses on properties that are in transition and we have teamed up with the R.I. Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, of which I have been a commissioner since 1986, to implement and continue a joint design awards program that will be rolled out this October.
