Home Economy Economic Activity URI’s W. Alton Jones Campus to reopen

URI’s W. Alton Jones Campus to reopen

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PBN Staff

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03/02/2026

Alton-Jones-2022- — AN INITIATIVE has been launched to reopen the University of Rhode Island’s W. Alton Jones Campus within five years. / COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

WEST GREENWICH – An initiative has been launched to reopen the University of Rhode Island’s W. Alton Jones Campus within five years, the school and R.I. Department of Environmental Management announced Monday. The DEM announced Monday it will invest more than $2 million in phased capital improvements that include preparing and staffing the main office building,

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WEST GREENWICH – An initiative has been launched to reopen the University of Rhode Island’s W. Alton Jones Campus within five years, the school and R.I. Department of Environmental Management announced Monday. The DEM announced Monday it will invest more than $2 million in phased capital improvements that include preparing and staffing the main office building, renovating the Environmental Education Center and surrounding cabins, restoring Woodvale Farm buildings through sustainable subleases and improving campuswide wayfinding and public access. In addition, DEM will implement a comprehensive forest-management plan to safeguard the property’s long-term ecological health and resilience. Work is slated to begin this spring and continue through the year, with the goal of restoring public access by December. “DEM is proud to partner with URI on this significant initiative. Through this investment, we reaffirm our shared commitment to conservation, education, research and meaningful community engagement,” said DEM Director Terry Gray. “With decades of expertise in land stewardship, capital development and long-term planning, our team is uniquely positioned to help shape the future of the W. Alton Jones Campus. This project reflects the core of DEM’s mission – to protect, restore and promote Rhode Island’s natural resources while ensuring lasting public access to them.” URI researchers will continue to utilize the campus for ongoing and future research, according to the release. “The W. Alton Jones Campus is an extraordinary asset for the University of Rhode Island and for communities across Rhode Island,” said URI President Marc Parlange. “This partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management reflects our shared commitment to protecting the natural character of the campus while strengthening its role as a center for learning, discovery, and public connection.” URI shut down the area to the public in 2020 due to financial issues and problems exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was gifted to the university by the widow of W. Alton Jones, an oil executive who died in a plane crash. President Dwight Eisenhower made several visits to hunt and fish with Jones, and the king of Nepal stayed there at the end of a tour of the United States, the university said. The campus was used by the R.I. State Police as a temporary hideout for an organized crime informant, and as the set for a 2005 Hollywood movie starring Cybill Shepherd as a serial killer.