The Providence Historic District Commission (PHDC) granted approvals for a few projects that have been in and out of public meetings for several months at its April 28 meeting.

The 64 Angell Street project by Providence Architecture and Building Co. is moving full steam ahead after a year of planning, and a project at Westminster Unitarian Church will continue despite a paint mishap. The Corliss-Carrington House was granted egress and dimesional variances for parking — DBVW is the project architect. A preapproved list and finalized standards are also on the horizon for home owners looking to swap out their windows. Here’s the latest for those who could not attend.

64 Angell Redesign Receives Conceptual Approval

After a long and contentious review process, the project at 64 Angell Street, put forward by developers Kevin Diamond and Dustin Dezube with Providence Architecture and Building Co., is moving ahead. 

The property, which is in the College Hill Historic District, currently consists of the Captain George Benson House, a Federal-style mansion built in the late 18th century. At PHDC meetings last spring and again in February, attendees and commissioners raised concerns about the proposed addition of a single-family and multi-family homes on the site, the location and size of their garages, their setback from the street, and other elements of the conceptual renderings that made them incompatible with the PHDC’s building standards. 

At the suggestion of PHDC commissioners in February, PPS hosted an early April charrette with Dezube and Diamond (who is also the architect of the project) and several experts in historic preservation and architecture to help reimagine the design. The charrette lasted for more than two hours and produced a transformed plan for the site that resolved many of the issues that had been raised at the last PHDC meeting. Participants at the charrette included the architects JP Couture and Cornelis de Boer, the architectural historian Ronald Onorato, planning expert Kim Salerno, Clark Schoettle (former Executive Director of the Providence Revolving Fund), Liz Mauran (President of the Mile of History Association), and PPS Executive Director Marisa Brown.   

The new single-family home fronting Prospect Street was set back from the street and reconfigured, the existing home’s garage was relocated to the western side of the site out of view of Prospect and Angell Streets, and the additional multi-family home on Defoe Place was sited, though PHDC commissioners asked to see a more detailed landscaping plan in future iterations.

Dezube, Diamond, and other charrette attendees agreed that the redesign process benefited from considering the site as a whole, rather than considering the two new proposed buildings  individually.  PPS Executive Director Marisa Brown noted at the meeting that 1-2 commissioner spots remain open on the PHDC, and it would be of significant benefit to add two preservation architects to the group who have deep experience working in historic districts, as there are none on the commission currently. She noted that it took Dezube and Diamond three appearances at the HDC over the course of a year to arrive at a conceptual proposal that was approved and said that some of the changes that came about as a result of the charette might have been addressed at an earlier HDC meeting if the commission included that expertise.

126 Adelaide: Miscommunication and Obsidian Black Paint on a Historic Church 

A long saga involving the Westminster Unitarian Church, also known as Hood Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church, at 126 Adelaide Avenue in Elmwood also reached a conclusion after a lengthy debate.

The church, which is part of the Providence Landmarks Local Historic District, is being converted into affordable housing units by Touchdown Realty after sitting vacant for years. About a year ago, a portion of the church, originally constructed between 1901 and 1907, was painted obsidian black. When neighbors alerted the Planning Department staff, the Department asked the developer to hold off, as painting uncovered masonry is not in compliance with PHDC guidelines.

Since then, the developer has tried several methods to remove the black paint to no avail. Preservation Planner Jason Martin noted that the applicant had tried all the methods suggested and brought an expert planner to the site — but there was no getting that paint off.

The discussion at Monday’s meeting swirled around whether the exterior of the entire church should now be painted a uniform color, or whether the unpainted portions ought to be preserved as is (with a clear coating to alleviate water leakage).

The applicant advocated for permission to paint the entire church, citing his design preferences and experience, and the fact that the church is his property. Leaving it partially painted, he said, is “almost as if you have gotten half a haircut. And they did half the hair, and then they said, ‘Oh, you look good.’ We’ll just have you walk out of here with half of a haircut.”

Commissioners pushed back, saying that they had to adhere to their own standards for the PHDC.

Ultimately, the PHDC resolved to approve a clear coating on the rest of the building so that the developer could get these units onto the market, but did not approve his request to paint the entire church black. The question of completing the paint job may return later down the line.

Window Standards Revised, Official Preapproved List Coming Soon

The PHDC has created a new section on its website for replacement windows, and homeowners looking to swap out sashes in their historic homes can explore a list of preapproved windows, which has been available since November. 

With the recent lead compliance law being more rigorously enforced at the state level, landlords (including those of owner-occupied rentals) have to get into lead compliance and register with the state, otherwise, they will face fiscal penalties and be unable to evict tenants. As a result, homeowners have eagerly awaited these new standards and guidance on which replacement windows will receive approval. 

Additionally, at the state level, the Rhode Island Department of Health clarified its lead standards for double-hung windows, allowing upper sashes to remain fixed, meaning homeowners may only need to replace the bottom sash.

May 6, 1:15 pm: This story has been updated to clarify that the preapproved window list has been available since the fall.

By Katy Pickens / Planning & Preservation Writer / kpickens@ppsri.org