A rendering from an LLB Architects feasibility study of a proposed Rhode Island State History Center at a potential site on State Street. (Image courtesy of Rhode Island Department of State)
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore’s quest to find the right locale to host the Rhode Island State Archives plus other state treasures and artifacts might be compared to the story of Goldilocks.
The Archives’ current home, a leased space on 33 Broad St., Providence, is too small to suit the grand purposes Amore has in mind for the state’s material history. But Amore’s proposal in early 2024 to build a new state archives and history center across the street from the State House proved much too big in scope and cost — its price tag was $102 million — to win over legislators, though it did have the support of Gov. Dan McKee.
What may be just right is Amore’s new approach: a downsized Rhode Island State History Center, still on Smith Hill, which would function more like an exhibition and multipurpose event space than a comprehensive monument to the state’s past. The secretary’s refreshed schematic seeks to “right-size the building and to reduce the project cost,” Amore wrote in his Aug. 8 cover letter for a capital budget submission to the Office of Management and Budget.
“The most essential public functions of the previous program remain, including an exhibit gallery for permanent display of Rhode Island’s founding documents, as well as space for rotating exhibits,” Amore wrote.
The capital budget ask comprises a total of $60.8 million for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, including funding for revamping the Open Government Center website. Amore’s suggested rebrand relies on the results of the $500,000 feasibility study by LLB Architects commissioned by the Department of State with Rhode Island Capital Plan (RICAP) funds allocated in fiscal year 2025.
“In the Department of State’s budget negotiations, it was clear the project scope exceeded available State support,” the state department’s new capital budget request says the failed 2024 archives building proposal.
The first half of Amore’s compromise is laid out as the Rhode Island State History Center, a two-story museum, preferably still on Smith Hill. The second half involves porting the bulk of the State Archives, including its stacks and public reading room, to the Robert L. Carothers Library & Learning Common at the University of Rhode Island (URI) in Kingston.
A reference archivist flips through a midcentury property directory from Bristol, Rhode Island, at the State Archives at 33 Broad St., Providence. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
Rather than rely on a bond issue to secure a new home for the archives — as proposed in 2024 — the new capital request suggests $45 million for the history center and another $15 million for the URI buildout. Another potential site for the museum on State Street could work, the feasibility study noted. But this arrangement would erase 126 parking spaces, which the budget request calls “a significant drawback” as a new parking lot would need to be built nearby anyway, an add-on which could raise the total project cost to $62.64 million.
“The estimated total project cost for the parking garage is $17,054,311,” the document reads. “But, the feasibility of the parking garage project is uncertain — the prospective site is also being evaluated for a solar canopy installation.”
Wherever the museum may end up landing, it would display state treasures — including the Royal Charter, Act of Renunciation, and Rhode Island copies of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights — and feature rotating exhibits plus a multipurpose event space, public amenities, and a gift shop on the first floor.
“The exhibit spaces and limited records collection storage proposed for the Rhode Island State History Center would house the highest value documents and objects currently at the State Archives,” the proposal reads. “These items in our collection are permanent and irreplaceable.”
The second floor would have a limited amount of record storage, as well as the Secretary of State’s executive office, moving it from its current location at the State House. Overall, the project cuts the original proposal from around 52,700 gross square feet to about 24,600 gross square feet.
A chart from capital budget request document for the Rhode Island State History Center shows a proposed schedule for funding over the project’s duration. (Photo and collage by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
As for the URI space, it would consolidate the existing State Archives (minus what would be stored at the History Center) plus off-site holdings at Iron Mountain, one of the world’s largest document and record-storage companies which holds a number of Rhode Island archival materials. The budget request notes that URI is also working with LLB Architects to determine feasibility for these upgrades.
“The Department believes there is a natural synergy for the collections storage and research functions of the State Archives program to be housed at the University of Rhode Island and to have a State-affiliated agency as a long-term partner, instead of a commercial landlord,” the budget request reads.
The Broad Street archives space is in a building owned by Paolino Properties, the company owned by former Providence mayor and noted developer in the city, Joseph Paolino Jr.
The feasibility study recommended a project director be hired to steer to development and design. That would be followed by 14 months of design, three months of bidding, 16 months of construction, and three months of installation and moving in. If the project kicked off in 2027, and proceeded on the timeline suggested, the museum could open sometime in 2030, the study estimated. But it also adjusted project cost estimates for inflation and cautioned that construction costs could rise in summer 2029, which would be the midpoint of the project.
Amore’s capital request attaches an additional ask for $800,000 to revamp the state’s OpenGov portal, which hosts state directories of public officials, open meetings, municipal and state boards and commission, and other civic and government information.
“It is also essential to meeting my goals of encouraging civic engagement by providing an accurate, user-friendly tool for Rhode Islanders to learn about and engage with their government,” Amore wrote in his cover letter.
In 2024, Amore requested $750,000 for the same upgrades when he presented his wish list to the House Committee on Finance as part of its annual budget-refining process.
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