After nearly two decades of sitting empty, the former Wickford Elementary School in North Kingstown has a new owner, and a plan to fill it with apartments.
Preservationist Paul Boghossian's company closed on the historic building at 99 Phillips St., buying it from the town for $331,000, NBC 10 WJAR reported Oct. 6. The closing happened the week before the station's report.
"It's destined to be 34 apartments and we have approval for state historic tax credits and federal historic tax credits," Boghossian told the station.
A long road
The town tried for years to find a new use for the building. "Maybe about 20 years ago when they vacated it and started some redistricting, the town tried to find someone to repurpose it, but there was a lot of obstacles, a lot of challenges," Town Manager Ralph Mollis told WJAR.
Boghossian's proposal was selected by the town in 2019. Several neighbors then challenged an earlier version of the project in court, raising concerns that included its size and parking.
That case gives a detailed look at the building. In a February 2023 Superior Court decision, Judge Taft-Carter upheld the North Kingstown Zoning Board's approvals for the developer, Wickford Schoolhouse, LLC. The ruling describes a three-story original schoolhouse with a pyramidal roof about 60 feet high, a flat-roofed 1930s-1940s addition that doubled its size, and two art deco stair towers. The building had about 33,159 square feet of floor space on a parcel of roughly 6.12 acres. Under that plan, the parcel would be cut to 4.68 acres, with the town keeping the playground and old town meeting hall, and the site plans showed 92 parking spaces, including 10 for the playground.
At that time, the plan the zoning board approved 5-0 on March 30, 2022, called for 39 condominiums, a two-story addition to bring part of the building to five stories, and about 55,540 square feet of total floor area. During that review, Zoning Board member Christopher Zangari called the vacant school "a blight in the middle of Wickford," according to the decision. A companion application for the Olde Wickford Theatre property across Phillips Street proposed 18 condominiums in three existing buildings. The current plan, as Boghossian described it to WJAR, is 34 apartments in the school.
The court record also notes testimony that the project would tie into municipal sewer, remove an old septic system and eliminate direct drainage into nearby Academy Cove, and that the building permit was conditioned on final review of the building elevations by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission. The ruling also cited Boghossian's 35 years in property development, including his conversion of the former Hathaway Shirt Factory in Maine.
Boghossian has also bought three properties across the street, including the former Wickford Theater, WJAR reported. The agreement with the town requires at least 10% of the apartments to be affordable. Boghossian said four affordable units are planned in the school and two at the theater property.
He estimates the total redevelopment of the school and surrounding properties will cost about $70 million, and he hopes to break ground in 2027.
Mollis said the sale brings in $331,000 that was in the town's budget and ends the town's responsibility for maintaining the building. Neighbor Nancy Moye told the station she's glad to see it brought back. "And this will be a lovely property," she said.
Why it matters for Contractors
Historic school conversions are some of the most complicated jobs in residential construction, and this one comes with a big price tag. A $70 million estimate across the school and the properties across the street points to a multi-year project for contractors who know historic rehab.
The court record hints at the scope: a building with limestone ornamentation, a planned addition with a story set aside for mechanical equipment, front parking and a new sewer connection. That kind of job typically draws masonry, window, carpentry, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and sitework trades. State and federal historic tax credits mean the work must meet preservation standards, and under the 2022 approvals, the state's historic preservation commission had final review of the building elevations.
No general contractor has been named. Groundbreaking is hoped for in 2027, so contractors with historic restoration experience have time to watch for bid opportunities and introduce themselves to the development team.