Historical districts are among the trickiest areas to build in the capital city, due to layers of requirements designed to protect the unique physical character of the neighborhoods.
Michael H. Lemoi Jr., owner of three single-story commercial buildings starting at 1290 Westminster St., in the Armory Historical District in the West End, is learning that challenge firsthand, as he’s trying to construct a mixed-use building with 36 to 39 residential units on the property.
“We think this contributes best to the urban vitality of this community,” said Eric Zuena, an architect with the Providence-based architecture firm ZDS Inc.
Zuena was hired by Lemoi to design the new building.
“A mixed-use project is what we think is right for the community and the city,” he added.
But the neighborhood is pushing back, most recently at a Providence Historic District Commission meeting on June 26. Several residents and advocates showed up to speak in opposition to the plan, which includes knocking down most of the existing structures and building new on top.
“I find this [proposed] building does not speak to anything in the neighborhood,” said Rose Siegel, who lives on nearby Dexter Street.
The proposed five-story building would comprise four floors of one-bedroom units, each totaling about 800 square feet. The street-level floor would remain commercial, something the neighborhood wants, and Lemoi envisions a restaurant and maybe a retail shop going in there.
But neighborhood advocates, including Kari N. Lang, executive director of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, argued the aesthetics of the project don’t match the overall neighborhood.
[caption id="attachment_164393" align="alignleft" width="233"]
The building at 1292 Westminster St. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
Lang also said the current building, a mid-20th-century, steel-framed brick building, should be incorporated into the new construction design, saying it makes no sense to demolish a building that still has a useful structure.
“Save the existing building,” Lang said pointedly about 1290 Westminster St. “We see how special the [neighborhood] is. It has its own character.”
To incorporate the existing building and to build up four more floors, however, would be near impossible and would ultimately hurt the financing structure for the overall project, Zuena said.
The brick building has a storied commercial history, as was detailed by Ned Connors, principal of the East Providence-based preservation firm Edwards Connors & Associates.
“These midcentury buildings shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand,” he said. “They are very austere, brick boxes … that I think are very handsome.”
DeMambro Radio Supply Co., an old radio and appliances store, erected the building – now separated into three retail units – in 1946. The space served as both an assembly and retail area to attract foot traffic. The building has large windows running alongside the sidewalk on Westminster Street.
But the building is now vacant and in rough shape. Most of the windows are smashed or boarded up. The façade is eroding in some areas – particularly where a car smashed through the wall – and graffiti covers much of the building.
“The steel structure is in fairly good shape,” Zuena said. “The space next to it is in much rougher shape.”
Lemoi purchased the building about six months ago from the congregation at the Pilgrim Congregational Church. The religious group once used the space for church-related activities and commercial purposes, but has since moved, leaving behind its 19th-century church space at 19-21 Harrison St., adjacent to the Westminster property.
The church – similar to 1290 Westminster – is pockmarked with boarded-up windows. A developer, Pilgrim Lofts LLC, however, is in the process of renovating the church into 15 residential units. The potential influx of so many new residents has some neighbors nervous about parking, traffic and trash.
“If [everyone] has cars … I’m not wildly excited about that,” said John Bergman, who lives across the road on Harrison Street.
Bergman also expressed concern with the height of the building – about 57 feet tall – which would greatly overshadow his 38-foot-tall building.
Ultimately, persuaded by the neighborhood residents’ concerns, the Historical District Commission did not approve demolition of 1290 Westminster St., saying the proposed project did not fit the style of the historic neighborhood. But it did vote to continue the proposal one month, giving the architect and owner the option to go back to the drawing board and redesign something else for consideration.
Zuena recently told Providence Business News he expects a new proposal to be brought before the commission.
