A year ago, James Hall took the reins of the Providence Preservation Society. Now settled into his new job, Hall took some time to discuss his position and the future of historic preservation in the capital city.
PBN: You recently celebrated your one-year anniversary leading the society. How are you settling in? Have you made any significant changes?
HALL: This is a great and exciting new position for me. I really look forward to going to work every day. Growing up in Fruit Hill; just over the Providence line, I have been fascinated by the work of PPS since I was a kid. If you are passionate about architecture, and the possibilities of preservation, Providence is an amazing place to be!
The most significant change that I have attempted since arriving here is to re-focus our efforts on public programming for an adult audience. I have come to believe that people who live in Providence have a very special affinity for the architecture of this city – its buildings, streets and neighborhoods. We have started a series of neighborhood walking tours, focusing on the history of both the architecture and the story of preservation, and these tours are now over-subscribed. This is a curious, intelligent and diverse audience of people who care deeply about this city.
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PBN: Do you see the future of historic preservation being large projects or smaller ones?
HALL: Both are important. Providence needs homeowners in our neighborhoods who will paint their porches and remove vinyl siding, but we must also undertake heroic projects like the Masonic Temple. However, the most exciting opportunity in Providence is to substantially broaden what preservation can mean in a city.
Providence was one of the first cities to imagine saving a whole neighborhood. And I think we are poised once again to reinvent the scope of preservation — our point of view can provide and shape a citywide vision of how to preserve more than just individual buildings, and actually preserve the “sense of place,” which is so vital and palpable here.
Stand on College Hill, or Broadway, and look toward that iconic American skyline – Providence is “knowable,” familiar and unexpected, seductive and safe. We have to work hard to retain those qualities. It’s important to remember that Providence became the great city that it is one building at a time, and we can lose those special qualities one demolition at a time.
PBN: Last month, the Providence Historic District Commission granted a request by Cumberland Farms to tear down the Terminal Warehouse Buildings. It represents one of a few historic mills that owners have either razed or sought to tear down in the past year. Are we seeing a spike in teardowns? If so, why?
HALL: I don’t think it’s a spike, but speaking as someone who advocates tearing nothing down, it is nonetheless distressing to see any building come down. Buildings help us understand where we came from, and who we are, and a demolition is a silencing of a significant part of that story. It is never a good time to lose something forever.
These buildings that you mention are especially at risk because of their somewhat isolated location — they are not exactly in a neighborhood, and therefore there are fewer vocal advocates for their preservation. As to timing, irresponsible ownership of historic structures occurs during both strong and weak economies.
PBN: What do you say to developers who argue that these old mills are simply white elephants standing in the way of bigger and better things?
HALL: Do people actually still say that? If that is the case, then I guess I’d say that we need better, more creative developers. One has only to look at an amazing transformation of the Rising Suns Mill complex, or The Steelyard, or the Butcher Block Mill, or Pearl Street Lofts, or Corliss Landing, or the new Brown Medical School, or Monahasset Mill – do I need to go on? – to realize that preservation of industrial buildings makes good economic sense.
We have a lot of great developers here in town and at least as many talented architects ready to rise to the challenge – and frankly, acknowledge the rare opportunity – of building within the context of a unique, historic American city.
PBN: Speaking of tearing things down, workers are wrapping up the removal of the old Interstate 195. Do you see that being a boost or a harm to preservation efforts?
HALL: OK, you caught me. That is one thing that I am glad to see go. But what short memories we have. A mere 50 years ago, all our great leaders embraced the interstate highway system, irrespective of what it was doing to great American cities like Providence. We need to learn to be very cautious when a grand commission makes plans “for the public good.”
Our upcoming fall symposium Make no Little Plans: Visions for the City of Providence will address some of these opposing viewpoints. How can we continue to create, sustain and, perhaps “curate” a historic city in the 21st century?
I like new construction and contemporary architecture so although I am wary, I remain cautiously optimistic about development in the 195 parcels. However, designing in this district will require a careful, nuanced approach even more so than was required in the Capital Center, because this now open land exists within vibrant historic neighborhoods.
