Following years of discussion about how to address historic properties not currently protected within local historic districts, the City of Providence recently proposed a new “Historic Landmarks District” which would include historic residential buildings and oddball structures and landmarks throughout the city. The goal of the district is to establish protections for historically and architecturally significant properties not currently included within a historic district. From the ProJo.
Providence’s proposed changes to its zoning ordinance include an effort to protect historic homes, industrial buildings and other historically significant structures outside the city’s eight local historic districts.
This would provide a level of design review and demolition protections for structures as diverse as the Big Blue Bug, Brown University’s Ladd Observatory, the Olneyville New York System wiener shop, and the Zachariah Allen House, built in 1790 at 1093 Smith St.
