Mount Pleasant High School
Read PPS’ public statement on this issue.
8/29/2023 Update:
Mount Pleasant High School is still under discussion for potential demolition, with a decision deadline as soon as September 15. There are no more community meetings scheduled for public feedback. The $80 million gap between estimated cost of new construction and a renovation has yet to be adequately demonstrated, and no existing designs have been released to the public. PPS questions the quick turnaround for this decision and the lack of transparency regarding the real costs and educational planning for Mount Pleasant.
To demand clear estimates of renovation costs and to oppose the total demolition of Mount Pleasant High School, please share your comments with Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan by email (ward5@providenceri.gov) or phone (401-521-7477), with the Governor’s Office on their website or phone (401-222-2080), and with RIDE by phone (401-222-4600).
8/10/2023:
Mount Pleasant High School, photo courtesy of Kenneth C. Zirkel
The Providence Public School District held community meetings in-person on July 24 and over Zoom on August 1 to discuss the future of the Mount Pleasant High School building, which has been determined to be unsatisfactory in its current state. Renovation, partial demolition, and wholly new construction are all options being considered, with a final decision to come as early as September 15. While three options have been outlined, PPSD presented the community-preferred option for renovation as extraordinarily more expensive than a complete demolition and rebuild. Clear, informed estimates for the cost of all available options have not yet been shared.
The lightning-quick turnaround for this decision and the lack of transparency regarding the real expense of preservation vs. new construction is disappointing and unsatisfactory. PPS is against any demolition of this architecturally and locally significant public building, and will be advocating for a more thorough community process to decide the future of this school. In January, we included the Providence Public Schools on our annual list of Most Endangered Properties, citing delayed maintenance and disinvestment as a significant threat to the city’s 30+ historic school buildings. “Historic” only comes to mean “inadequate” when generations of policymakers and administrators neglect their responsibility to care for the public buildings where our city’s youth spend their formative years. The city’s historic neighborhood schools should be viewed as an asset as the district regroups and makes strategic investments.
Mount Pleasant High School was completed in 1938 in the Collegiate Gothic Style, a popular style across the country, but relatively rare in Providence. This largely intact public building is impressively sited on one of the city’s largest public school campuses, providing much welcome and used open space, and is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The school was slated for demolition in 2006, resulting in outcry from neighborhood residents and ultimately the protection of this historic community resource.
To demand clear estimates of renovation costs and to oppose the total demolition of Mount Pleasant High School, please share your comments with Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan by email (ward5@providenceri.gov) or phone (401-521-7477).