Before European settlers arrived in the 1600s, Algonquin Indians, chiefly Narragansett tribes, inhabited the area surrounding what is now the Alton Jones campus. The area of West Greenwich was bought in 1709 and established as a town in 1741. A population peak for the town of 2,054 was reached in 1790, but the years after saw a steady decline. Many left their farms to settle new land in the West. The Civil War also claimed a large number of local inhabitants. Consequently, by the early 1900s, much of the land that had been fields, pastures and orchards had been reclaimed by forests.
In 1929, the Louttit family of Providence bought the property that is now the Jones Campus. They constructed the houses at Whispering Pines and began to raise game birds for hunting. Louttit Pond, now Eisenhower Lake, was formed as an impoundment on Acid Factory Brook. During the Louttit ownership, nearly all the land suffered fire damage; the western half of the estate burned in 1951.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
Learn More
W. Alton Jones, chairman of the Board of Cities Service Company, purchased the property in 1955. Calling it Hianloland Farms, he used it as a private hunting and fishing resort. He was host to many famous visitors to the property, including President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
In 1962, Jones was killed in an airplane accident.
In 1963, through the kindness of Mrs. Nettie Marie Jones, the W. Alton Jones Foundation donated the entire estate with all of the furnished buildings to the University of Rhode Island.
University of Rhode Island
Long after President Eisenhower came there to relax and spend some time fishing, Rhode Island’s business community has discovered the University of Rhode Island’s W. Alton Jones Campus and the Whispering Pines Conference Center in West Greenwich.
With overnight accommodations for up to 64 people, conference rooms that can host 100, complete computer and audio/visual capabilities and on-site recreation, Whispering Pines is the hot spot when it comes to management training.
The center’s client list ranges from small businesses, to teachers’ unions to big banks. Some clients come for a day – others for two or three. But they all come for the same thing, to get away from the daily grind.
Getting away can simply mean a small group of managers – maybe six or eight – sitting around a conference table and brainstorming about their company’s direction. Or it could mean something a bit more adventurous, such as taking part in the Alton Jones “Executive Action Program.”
The program is based on a series of initiatives conducted outdoors. Skilled facilitators lead groups of eight to 12 people through structured initiatives that must be performed on a professionally designed low ropes course. The elements comprising the course are unfamiliar to the participants and the challenges presented must be solved with the involvement of the entire group.
Examples of the challenging program are:
Nitro Crossing
Objective: The group must make their way from one side of an imaginary “dangerous river” to the other side with the aid of a rope swing. The group is not allowed to touch the surrounding “waters” at any point during the activity and if a penalty occurs, all group members must return and start again. Group members must remain on the landing platform until all have made it over.
Flying Squirrel
Objective: Using a climbing harness. Participants are lifted straight up to a maximum height of 40 feet tethered to their colleagues by several ropes. Although the ride up is an individual experience, each team member is responsible for the safety of the person in the harness. All can take a turn until everyone has had the opportunity to see what it’s like to fly like a squirrel.
The Spider’s Web
Objective: The group must make their way through an oversized spider’s web. Once a group member has gone through an opening, it is closed to others. The challenge to the group is to have all members, regardless of size or weight, fit through some part of the web. Careful planning and skillful implementation are key for this activity. If someone causes the bell to ring on the web, all group members must return and start again.
After the challenge of each element is completed, the facilitator leads the group in a discussion about how the group performed. Time is spent discussing what participants saw, felt and thought, so that the group can understand and process what happened in attempting to solve the challenge that was provided to them.
Participants learn new ways of thinking about problems and are afforded the opportunity to assume responsibility for challenges in new and different ways. In addition to individual learning, the group experiences how to learn as a group and can use that learning to accomplish more difficult assignments through a process of experience and refinement.
(For more information about the Whispering Pines Conference Center, call 397-3361.)
