Our Biltmore Keepsake Ornaments Are Now SOLD OUT.
A new ornament will be announced in Fall of 2023!
PPS is pleased to announce our 2022 keepsake ornament, featuring Providence’s historic Biltmore Hotel! Proceeds from all sales will support our ongoing advocacy work.
Click here to place your order. Ornaments are $30 each, including shipping and handling, and orders will ship in early December.
2022 marks the centenary of the Biltmore Hotel. Providence’s landmark hotel was designed by Warren and Wetmore — a New York firm well-known for hotels — and built between 1920 and 1922. The neon roof-top sign and the glass-enclosed exterior elevator, installed in 1979 during a rehabilitation by Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson & Abbott, are the defining features of the neo-Federal skyscraper.
Built through the efforts of the Providence Chamber of Commerce, the Biltmore was the most ambitious project in the country by such a local group at the time of its completion. This monument to civic determination immediately became the whole city’s gathering place of choice, and many Rhode Islanders have memories of attending events in the penthouse ballroom. Importantly, and intentionally, the Biltmore accepted Black guests during a time of racial segregation and was featured in The Negro Motorist Green Book guide for African American travelers.
The hotel remained the city’s finest until it closed in 1975. Soon after, a group of local business leaders joined once again to rehabilitate the building through the use of a recently implemented federal tax incentive, and the hotel re-opened in 1979. Most recently, in 2019, a renovated and rebranded hotel debuted as the Graduate Providence. Still known colloquially as the Biltmore, the building is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places and part of the Downtown Providence Historic District.
These ornaments will sell quickly, so don’t delay! Place your order today. Please email info@ppsri.org if you have any issues with the order form. Thank you for supporting the ongoing advocacy work of PPS and for cherishing this iconic part of Providence’s skyline, the Biltmore Hotel.
This keepsake ornament was made in Rhode Island.