Newport This Week<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Newport Historical Society will stay in its Brick Market location after signing a 30-year lease with the city.<\/p>\n
The nonprofit organization will pay the city $6,667 per year for use of its headquarters and museum located at 127 Thames St., a city- owned building.<\/p>\n
NHS, which offers the public free admission to the museum, has been leasing the building for $1 per year since 1991. The agreement has not been formal since 2016. The City Council unanimously approved the new contract on Feb. 12.<\/p>\n
Annual lease payments to the city over 30 years totaling $200,000 will help offset the cost of a new geothermal HVAC system and the modernization of restrooms in the building, which the city is paying for. According to city officials, the current system needs to be re\u00adplaced, and restrooms updated for ADA compliance, with work esti\u00admated at $665,800.<\/p>\n
The city received two bids for the project in its second request for proposals after a first round yielded no responses. Farrar As\u00adsociates of Newport bid $625,800, while E.W. Burman of Warwick proposed $744,900 to complete the work. The city added a $40,000 contingency for the project.<\/p>\n
At the meeting, the council approved a contract with Farrar Associates to complete the project in a 5-1 vote, with councilor David Carlin opposed. Carlin pressed public services director William Riccio about the cost.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven with the addition of the bathroom upgrades, roughly $625,000 for this type of work is extraordinarily expensive in my opinion,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t vote for something I don\u2019t have an expla\u00adnation for. Get the contractor here; this is a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlin requested a cost break\u00addown for the project. Riccio said he did not have the bid on hand but that it could be procured for Carlin\u2019s review. The increased cost is likely due to the historic nature of the structure and much of the work needing to take place in a basement crawlspace, according to Riccio.<\/p>\n
The Brick Market, built between 1762 and 1771, sits at the foot of Washington Square.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like you\u2019re just putting a wall-mounted unit up,\u201d he said. \u201cI hate to say that\u2019s the price of doing business in historic structures, but it does come into play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlin said the city is \u201cjust guessing\u201d as to the project total. Riccio said the city has \u201chard bids\u201d to complete the work.<\/p>\n
Mayor Charles Holder conceded the price tag is high but said in\u00adcreased costs are expected when working with historic buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Farrar Associates came to us with a breakdown of what it costs, would you know if that\u2019s the correct number?\u201d he asked Carlin. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to be funny. I\u2019m just saying I\u2019ve worked in these situa\u00adtions before and, yes, that number is high, but it\u2019s really not that far out of the park.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holder said Farrar Associates is a reputable local company with a track record of completing proj\u00adects on time and on budget.<\/p>\n
Councilor Xay Khamsyvoravong said the purchase is \u201cnot a typical HVAC system\u201d that would other\u00adwise cost a fraction of what the city is paying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one of the oldest sys\u00adtems in the state,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s sup\u00adporting a free public museum on the top floor of historic artifacts, including a printing press from the Franklin family.\u201d<\/p>\n
A large portion of the project total is being covered by a grant from the Rhode Island Office of En\u00adergy Resources. Khamsyvoravong noted recent federal freezes and cuts by the Trump Administration and said speed is of the essence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anybody\u2019s watching the news right now, two weeks can make a lot of difference when it comes to funding that is trickling down to us from the federal government,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to be moving deci\u00adsively on any opportunity we have to obligate funds that we have that are tied back to federal funds. We\u2019re at risk of losing these funds if we don\u2019t act quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other matters:<\/p>\n
The council approved a reso\u00adlution acting as the first adminis\u00adtrative step in allowing Discover Newport to create a new tourism marketing district, which will allow the organization to assess increased nightly room fees for 18 participating hotels.<\/p>\n
After a unanimous council vote, city manager Colin Kennedy will have authorization to sign contracts up to $250,000 for work related to renovations at the Flor\u00adence Gray Center, which is serving as Newport\u2019s and Middletown\u2019s learning hub for the municipal Learn365 initiative. Kennedy will be required to only notify the council that contracts below that threshold are being executed.<\/p>\n
The council unanimously with\u00addrew a show cause hearing for Gardiner House, which was one of several restaurants that did not get paperwork squared away with the state in time for annual liquor license renewals with the city last month.<\/p>\n
Read the story online: https:\/\/www.newportthisweek.com\/articles\/lease-signed-to-stay-in-brick-market\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February 20, 2025 By: Philip Cozzolino, Newport This Week The Newport Historical Society will stay in its Brick Market location after signing a 30-year lease with the city. The nonprofit organization will pay the city $6,667 per year for use of its headquarters and museum located at 127 Thames St., a city- owned building. NHS, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[4811,5801,14809,11209,13432,5104,3924,4761,1619],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-102291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-history","tag-brick","tag-historical","tag-lease","tag-market","tag-newport","tag-signed","tag-society","tag-stay","tag-week"],"yoast_head":"\n
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