Might be the only time we overlap with Art in Ruins. Building has looked like this for over two years.
The 100 year old former Grove Elementary school sat vacant for over 30 years before illegal demolition work began in February of 2007. Privately owned, the school has been passed down among family members owning an adjacent funeral home. The family wanted to expand their parking lot. The city of Providence and the National Historic Register thought otherwise.
Daniel offers this sound piece of advice:
I am personally a little bothered that the only factors in favor of preservation are (1) it’s a lovely building and (2) it could be turned into condos.
The “it would be great for condos” argument is why 95 Grove St. lands here on Forgotten Providence.
The pending demolition is still tied up in courts, but it’s likely too much damage has been done to save the structure intact. Regardless of preservation efforts, the building needs to come down. It was an eye sore for the residential neighborhood surrounding before, and certainly is now.
In lieu of building preservation, or a parking lot, the site would make an apt candidate for several multi-family homes; specifically where low-income housing is needed.
Nearby Houses:
None yet photographed. Please take a picture if you see one.
Not sure why low income housing is needed here. What the neighborhood needs is higher income housing.
For those of you who do not recognize it, the plaque on the building indicates that it is a “Civil Defense Fallout Shelter”. I think these were posted in the 1950’s. In the event of a nuclear attack these building were thought to provide some shelter from “fallout”.