Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Abandoned Elementary School to Get $30.5M Renovation

  • By Matt Jones
  • 12/14/21

Windmill Street Elementary School in Providence, R.I., has sat abandoned for more than a decade. The building has experienced three fires within the last four months, as well as years’ worth of vandalism, graffiti, broken windows, and broken fences and doors. Now, the facility is set for a $30.5-million renovation project that will allow it to open its doors to students once again.

City Councilman Nicholas Narducci announced the start of the project last week. Funding was allocated last year as part of a $160-million bond approved by voters in 2018 and an additional $140-million school projects bond passed in November 2020.

The city is partnering with Eastman/Perkins Architects and Bacon Construction Co. for the design, construction and demolition work. Other tasks include asbestos removal, window replacement, playground equipment replacement and more. The project is currently scheduled for completion in fall 2023.

“When I was about 10 years old, my grandad was the boiler man, the fireman at this building, and I remember my dad taking me here for the first time to see my grandfather,” said Anthony Rao, former student, PE teacher, and eventually principal of Windmill Street Elementary School. “Such an enormous school it was for a 10-year-old child to see.”

According to local news, mayoral candidate Gonzalo Cuervo said that he’d prefer to see the building not just renovated, but “redesigned in a way that responds to the modern needs of education,” including preschool, afterschool programs and recreational activities. “Simply remodeling an 80-year-old building—it’s still an 80-year-old building,” he said.

Officials have announced that, after the building is completed, it will be used as a swing space to house students whose home schools are under construction. On a longer timeline, the city plans to open it as its own dedicated school facility once again.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • Utah Valley University Opens New Engineering Building

    Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, recently held a grand-opening ceremony for the new Scott M. Smith Engineering Building, according to a news release. The facility is one of the largest engineering buildings in the state at almost 200,000 square feet, and it plays home to the university’s Smith College of Engineering and Technology (SCET).

  • Construction Begins on New University Research Vessel

    Boat-building company All American Marine recently announced that it has begun construction on a new catamaran research vessel for the University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) in Port Aransas, Texas, according to a news release.

  • UTampa Breaks Ground on STEM Academic Facility

    The University of Tampa in Tampa, Fla., recently broke ground on one of its largest academic facilities ever, according to a news release. The Dickey Science Innovation Center will measure 153,000 square feet and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.