After a three-year hiatus, the Providence Preservation Society has once again compiled a list of “most endangered properties” in the city, including the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island’s Cathedral of St. John, at No. 2, as well as four public schools and a former school.
Topping the list is Nathan Bishop Middle School, at 101 Sessions St. on the East Side, which is temporarily closed. Also listed are the former Grove Street Elementary School, at 95 Grove St.; Asa Messer Elementary School, at 158 Messer St.; Mount Pleasant High School, at 434 Mount Pleasant Ave.; and George J. West Elementary School, at 145 Beaufort St.
In addition, the list includes, at No. 4, the Louttit Laundry/What Cheer Laundry, a contaminated site at 93 Cranston St. that has been vacant for 20 years; the Earl P. Mason Carriage House, at 296 Benefit St.; the former Providence police and fire headquarters at 197 Fountain St., slated for demolition so The Procaccianti Group can build an office complex; the Providence Produce Warehouse, at 2 Harris Ave., behind the Providence Place mall; and the Teste Block, at 84-88 Dorrance St., one of the last narrow low-rise commercial buildings in Providence, vacant for the last three years and owned by National Grid.
The list, compiled by the society based on nominations submitted by the public, is supported in part by a grant from the R.I. General Assembly.
