FW: PPS February E-Newsletter

In This Issue Preservation Education Events Volunteer Opportunity Community Notes Quick Links Become a Member PPS Website Preservation Nation Upcoming PPS Events February 6 Winter Bash March 17 - 19 Spring Lecture June 5 31st Festival of Historic Houses Support our work! Support PPS by mailing us your Eastside Marketplace receipts! A percentage of each dollar goes to support PPS programs. To learn more, e-mail PPS. February 2010 News PPS Winter Bash Saturday, February 6 8:00 p.m. - midnight Join us at 100 Westminster St. in downtown Providence for the season's hottest preservation celebration! Preservation Call for Nominations: 2010 Most Endangered Properties Deadline February 19, 2010 PPS is now accepting nominations for the 2010 Most Endangered Properties List. Each year, we assemble this list to highlight historic resources that are endangered by threats like neglect, deterioration, demolition, development, insufficient funds, and adverse public policy. The purpose of this list is to generate interest in and support for the preservation of these significant properties; educate the public about the benefits of historic preservation and the unique historic properties in our city; and work toward solutions with property owners, developers, and other interested parties to bring about positive changes in each property. We rely on you to help identify threatened resources in Providence. To nominate a property, fill out this form and return it to PPS by February 19, 2010. For additional information, call Kathleen Styger, Preservation & Advocacy Coordinator, at (401)831-7440 or visit our website. Providence School Facilities Report Update The architectural and engineering firm Fanning Howey conducted a study of Providence school facilities in the summer of 2009. Preliminary findings are now available on the Providence Public Schools website. Superintendent Tom Brady has recommended closing seven schools, but has also recommended the reopening of West Broadway Elementary. Community meetings to review final data and preliminary recommendations took place during the last week of January and are continuing for the first week of February. Call (401) 456-0686 for the times, dates and locations of these meetings. The final recommendations will be presented to the School Board in February 2010 at a date to be determined. Education PPS 2010 Spring Lecture March 17 - 19 20th Century Buildings of Providence In anticipation of the coming spring, plan to join us for a series of lectures transitioning from the PPS Fall Symposium topic of the American Renaissance and Providence to a discussion of the International Style, Modernism, and the current Green Building movement in our lovely city.  Our keynote lecture, "Place/Displace: Providence and the Twentieth Century,"  by R. Tripp Evans, Ph.D., will take place at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17 and is free to PPS members, $10 for non-members.  Lectures and site visits on Thursday, March 18 and Friday, March 19 will explore the visually distinct buildings that appeared along Providence streetscapes in the 1900s. Among the lecturers will be Ira Rakatasky, EAIA, a dedicated practitioner of Modernism in Providence, and Principal State Architectural Historian Wm. McKenzie Woodward.  Registration for Thursday and Friday is $100 for PPS members.  Rhode Island licensed realtors may earn six continuing education credits at a registration fee of $150.  Space is limited.  To register, please contact Education Coordinator Kathleen McAreavey.    Children's Heritage Education Tours Open for Booking Bookings are now being accepted for our Spring 2010 Children's Heritage Education Tours, which are led from Monday through Friday at 10:00 a.m., March 29 through June 11. The tours offered this spring are: ~ College Hill Tour, 1636-1775 - Roger Williams and the Settlement of Colonial Providence focuses on grade four. ~ Downtown Tour, c. 1800 - Present - The Rise of the West Side focuses on grades six through twelve.  ~ "Avi" Tour - Something Upstairs, 1800 - A Literary Journey to the Past focuses on grades five through seven.  ~ H.P. Lovecraft as Preservationist, 1920s Benefit Street focuses on grades ten through twelve.  ~ "Avi" Tour - The Man Who Was Poe, Mid-1800s Providence focuses on grades five through seven.  ~ The Crest of College Hill:  A Late 19th Century Victorian Journey focuses on the third grade.  Please spread the word at your children's and grandchildren's schools. Teachers may contact Education Coordinator Kathleen McAreavey at kmcareavey@ppsri.org or (401) 831-7440, ext. 103. Special Request for the PPS Research Library PPS is seeking a copy of Buildings on Paper: Rhode Island Architectural Drawings 1825-1945 (1982) by William H. Jordy and Christopher P. Monkhouse, to add our Research Library.  This would be a great resource for the staff, interns, and visiting researchers. Please contact Education Coordinator Kathleen McAreavey if you have a copy you would like to donate. Events PPS Winter Bash Saturday, February 6 8:00 p.m. - midnight Join PPS at its seventh Winter Bash at 100 Westminster Street overlooking Burnside Park and Capital Center in Downtown Providence on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 8 p.m. The Bash will bring together hundreds of people from across the region. Featuring fabulous entertainment, specialty drinks, a full cash bar, and food available for purchase from United BBQ - this is the event everyone will be talking about through the year! This year's theme is Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Plan to dance the night away with Santa Mamba as we transform this empty space into a magical evening not to be missed. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here. Annual Meeting & Preservation Lecture Thursday, January 21, 5:30 p.m. The Beneficent Congregational Church was the site of the 2009 Annual Meeting on January 21.  This magnificent domed structure, ca. 1810, is the oldest building in downtown.  It remains in active use as a meeting house as well as for church purposes. After the meeting, the bravest among the more than 200 meeting attendees followed church volunteers on a climb into the dome.      Architectural historian and author Will Morgan presented the Preservation Lecture, highlighting unique aspects of Providence's physical identity.    Two recognitions awarded annually were announced. The Volunteer of the Year was Jack Welch, a longtime docent; accepting the award on his behalf were Kathy Norton, Jack's neice, and Kevin Welch, his son. Trustee J.P. Couture received the President's Award for exceptional service in initiating and co-planning the Fall Symposium, the first in a series of adult education events that will continue this year. Volunteer Opportunity PPS is seeking volunteers to help out at our Winter Bash, coming up on Saturday, February 6 at 100 Westminster Street in downtown Providence. The always-popular event runs from 8:00 p.m. until 12:00 midnight. The attire is casual cocktail. For more information, click here. Community Notes A View from College Hill:  William J. Brown, The Life of a Free Man of Color in Rhode Island Please join a public discussion moderated by Ray Rickman on Wednesday, February 10, 5:30 pm, Old Brick Schoolhouse, 2nd floor, 24 Meeting Street. Call 421-0606 to register. Family Learning Sundays Second Sunday of every month January - May at 2:00 p.m. Providence Public Library presents its 2010 Family Learning Sundays series, beginning January 10. Bring your family to enjoy varied opportunities to seek new knowledge - together - at the Library. For information, call (401) 455-8025 or visit www.provlib.org. An Evening with Abraham Lincoln February 12, 6:45 p.m. First Baptist Church in America 75 North Main Street Providence, RI  02903 Robb Dimmick returns in his tour de force reenactment following his sold-out appearance last year! Sponsored by Roger Williams National Memorial. 25th Annual Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation Conference Saturday, April 24, 2010 Little Compton and Tiverton   The 25th Annual Rhode Island Statewide Historic Preservation Conference presents "Preservation Is Local" in Little Compton and Tiverton on Saturday, April 24.  Robert McBride, Founding Director of Rockingham Arts and Museum Project (RAMP) and Vermont Advisor for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will deliver the keynote address.   The 2010 conference will showcase projects funded by RIHPHC's Preservation is Local Grant program as well as other initiatives from around the state. Field trips will explore the varied landscapes and diverse architecture of the Sakonnet Peninsula.   Registration is $40. For more information about the conference, organized by the RIHPHC, please visit www.preservation.ri.gov/conference, or contact Conference Coordinator Janet Balletto at (401)732-1009 or janetballetto@cox.net. Conference programs will be available in early March.  The mission of the Providence Preservation Society (PPS) is to improve the quality of life in the city of Providence through historic preservation and the enhancement of the built environment. PPS is a nonprofit membership organization, exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and is recognized as a charitable organization.