Current Events

Pawtucket has long been challenging Providence as the cultural capitol of the state, and this development will certainly put Pawtucket closer to the top. The Pawtucket Armory Association will reinvent the historic Armory, an eye-catching castle, into a performing arts center, to be anchored by the Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (SFGT), the Music School of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and a performing arts high school.

In February 2002, they retained Taylor & Burns Architects of Boston, known for creative, community-based reuse projects, to design the Pawtucket Armory Arts Exchange. On April 24, 2002, the Pawtucket City Council voted to sell the building to the PAA for $1, and work has begun on cleaning and preparing the Armory for its new incarnation.

The first step is renovation of the Armory's annex for SFGT's temporary use during the 2003 season. Already, the Annex's dramatic wrought iron supports have been cleaned and re-coated to stop the flaking of paint that has been going on for the past few years. Construction of the permanent theatre, music classrooms, and rehearsal studios will proceed as fundraising allows, with an estimated start date of January 2004, and completion three years later.

History

Built in 1894, the armory is the first of the William R. Walker & Sons designs in the state and boasts a drill shed measuring 80' x 140'. Like the other Walker armories, it is castle-like in appearance with turrets and crenellated battlements. The roof is complete with copper sheathing and holes to pour hot oil out of. At one time circuses, grand balls, and parties after parades took place in the armory's drill shed. The armory was owned by the state and used as a base for the Rhode Island National Guard until 1994. It was then turned over to the city of Pawtucket.

Across the street from Riverside Lofts / for. Lebanon Mills

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