The Rhode Island School of Design plans to implement the next major step of its downtown expansion next fall with the groundbreaking of the Chace Center, an addition to the RISD Museum that will also create gathering space for students. The project continues a series of initiatives undertaken by RISD that have largely avoided the conflict and neighborhood protests triggered by Brown's College Hill expansion.
The Chace Center, designed by world-renowned Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, will provide the RISD Museum with a more accessible entrance as part of the school's expansion into downtown Providence, said Roger Mandle, RISD's president.
Unlike Brown, which has bolstered its presence on College Hill in the past few years with projects such as the Life Sciences Building, Mandle said RISD has decided to take advantage of opportunities downtown and on South Main Street.
"We weren't going to build up there near Brown because we realized the neighbors wouldn't stand for it," Mandle said.
RISD has been able to avoid conflict with College Hill residents because of the smaller size of the school, said Fran Gast, the school's associate vice president for facilities planning.
"I think that RISD has avoided a lot of the conflict that has occurred around Brown's planning ... (because) we have expanded in other directions and we're smaller," Gast said. "We don't build life sciences buildings."
Jack Gold, executive director of the Providence Preservation Society, said he believes RISD's expansion is another revitalizing force in downtown Providence.
"At least having students downtown is contributing to the vitality of downtown in the same way that Johnson and Wales University's campus does," Gold said. "I think it's a good atmosphere to have RISD compete with Brown and Johnson and Wales for office and residential use."
Further expansion on land that was already part of RISD's campus, as well as ventures into adjacent downtown property, has happened under the guidance of the school's 1996 Master Plan, Gast said.
The Chace Center plays a central role in the implementation of RISD's Master Plan. The Chace Center will include a public auditorium as well as the addition of a large visiting gallery space and a student exhibition space, both of which will be incorporated into the RISD museum, Gast said.
Plans for the Chace Center also include student-oriented space, such as a shop, café and classrooms for freshmen foundation classes, core classes all RISD first-years must take, she said.
"The Chace Center ties together a whole number of functions on campus. (It) will combine the study of works of art that are already made with those that are being made - continuity," Mandle said.
The RISD Museum may remain closed during the projected two years of construction, though some exhibits may remain open, said Hope Alswang, the museum's new director.
"It will only make it a richer experience and let us be able to exhibit a lot more of our art," Alswang said.
After the Chace Center construction is completed, the museum's galleries will be completely reorganized and "will be much more rational," Gast said.
RISD's downtown expansion also includes the Center for Integrative Technologies and the Center for Design and Business, located across from Johnson and Wales on Weybosset Street. In addition, the school recently opened a dormitory at 15 Westminster St., which was formerly the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Building, Mandle said.
