RISD’s plans for multi-use center on hold

<b>Image courtesy of RISD</b><br>A rendering of RISD's proposed Chace Center features a contemporary design of brick and glass along North Main Street. The six-story center would include a museum, student workspace, classrooms and common areas.
Image courtesy of RISD
A rendering of RISD's proposed Chace Center features a contemporary design of brick and glass along North Main Street. The six-story center would include a museum, student workspace, classrooms and common areas.

Other construction projects, like downtown dorms, delay groundbreaking by one year

Two years ago, officials at the Rhode Island School of Design unveiled plans for a new center downtown that would combine all elements of the community and school, a contemporary building designed by a renowned architect – and designed to make a statement. Since that time, however, plans have changed, and now the groundbreaking has been pushed back a year to May 2006.

The school’s recent acquisition of premium student housing at 15 Westminster St., which is being transformed into apartments for upperclassmen and graduates, has become the new priority, along with the new library, which will also be located in the former Fleet building.

“We are just trying to phase in all the different construction projects so as not to overwhelm the RISD community by doing it all at once,” said Ann Hudner, director of external relations. “Because of that, we are putting off the groundbreaking of the Chace Center by one year.”

Gilbane Properties, a subsidiary of holding company Gilbane Inc., purchased 15 Westminster St. in 2003 and has entered into a rental agreement with RISD, with an option to buy. The apartments are slated to be ready for move-in this fall. Fleet gifted the first two floors of the building to RISD for the library before the bank was acquired by Bank of America.

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The Chace Center, named after its major financers, was designed by architect Rafael Moneo and features a contemporary design of brick and glass. The size limitations of the parking lot where the building will sit – the space is only 15,000 square feet – resulted in a 60,000-square-foot, six-story building.

The center would contain an expanded RISD museum, a student art gallery and workspace, classrooms, an auditorium and common areas for students, faculty and the public.

The price tag on the project – which included a renovation of neighboring Memorial Hall built in 1851 as a church by architect Thomas Tefft – is $46 million.

“We are still in the fund-raising phase for the Chace Center and are committed to not break ground until we raise 80 percent of the funds necessary,” Hudner said. “In the meantime, we are also phasing construction. … Right now 15 Westminster St. is in progress … then the library will begin with move-in expected June 2006. It would be then, if fund-raising goes according to plan, that the Chace Center would begin.”

To date, RISD has secured $23 million in financing (last February, the school was at $21 million) and need $7 million more in order to break ground, according to Will Melton, vice president of institutional advancement. In 2004, the school raised more than $4 million for the center, he said. RISD has until the end of this year to raise the amount. The completion date has also been moved back from May 2006 to fall of 2008.

The center, which will have a main entrance opening onto North/South Main Street, will be divided into halves. The upper portion of the building will be made of glass panels with a reflective inner layer, interrupted by transparent window openings. The lower half will be a more traditional brick.

“Our goal was to try to attract someone who would make as important a statement about architecture as Providence has come to be recognized for its architectural heritage,” said RISD President Roger Mandle, when the project was announced. “We wanted it to represent all of the attributes of RISD – the art of the past, art of the present and art of the future. People will be able to see art being created beside art that’s already done.”

In the past year, one of the other major donations to the center was from the Providence Journal Foundation, according to Hudner, which pledged $500,000. Other individual donors have also contributed “significant” gifts, she said.

As to whether RISD has struggled to raise funds for the center, Melton said, “It’s always difficult. There are a lot of competing demands for gift dollars.”

The center, along with 15 Westminster St. and the Center for Integrative Technologies on Weybosset Street, are part of RISD’s major campus expansion, an $85 million campaign.

“These are the most dramatic improvements we’ve ever done,” Melton said. “This is a major campus expansion. We’ve raised $70 million, so we’re at 82 percent. Most (campaigns) have a smaller share for facilities, but we had to set aside $38 million for facilities, so that raises the degree of difficulty.”

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