by Elena M. Pascarella, RLA, ASLA, and Jennifer Robinson
In October 2017 Brent Runyon, Executive Director of the Providence Preservation Society, assembled an ad hoc committee representing various historic organizations and groups in Rhode Island. The committee was comprised of:
- Brent Runyon, Executive Director, Providence Preservation Society
- Rachel Robinson, Director of Preservation, Providence Preservation Society
- Jim Donahue, Curator of Historic Landscapes & Horticulture, The Preservation Society of Newport County
- Kaity Ryan, Deputy Chief of Staff, The Preservation Society of Newport County
- Elena Pascarella, RLA, ASLA, Landscape Architect and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) Liaison for the Rhode Island Chapter of ASLA
- Karen Jessup, PhD, Landscape Architectural Historian and former professor at Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI
The purpose of this committee was to develop ideas for initiating a new survey of Rhode Island landscapes. The most recent survey of Rhode Island landscapes was Historic Landscapes of Rhode Island, compiled in the 1990s and published in 2001 by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission.
Given recent demands for developing open spaces, particularly in the Rhode Island cities of Providence and Newport, the committee felt an updated survey of significant landscapes was warranted.
The purpose of such a survey or inventory would be educational, helping owners or stewards of significant historic open spaces and landscapes to understand their properties and to apply appropriate maintenance and improvement schemes. Endangered landscapes could be identified, and potentially result in Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) documentation. The survey would be initially focused on Newport and Providence to establish a template from which other community surveys could be developed at a future time. Larger initiatives may also result, including:
- An Historic Landscape Trail (working with RI tourism)
- A statewide What’s Out There®-type public program similar to that of The Cultural Landscape Foundation
In 2018, Ms. Jennifer Robinson was awarded an Historic Landscapes Research Fellowship by The Preservation Society of Newport County. Her project represents the Society’s first collaborative fellowship with the Providence Preservation Society. I interviewed Ms. Robinson at the new visitor center at The Breakers mansion in Newport, RI.