Six Newport citizens have formed an unofficial committee to try to preserve the city’s historic baseball grandstand, which is slated for demolition.
The group, which includes Mayor Paul Monette and Town Clerk/Treasurer James Johnson, formed about a week after city councilors voted Jan. 4 to budget $25,000 to tear down the building behind Babe Ruth Field in Gardner Park.
“We feel there’s a lot of history in that grandstand,” Johnson said. “I played ball there, a lot of people played ball there … and if it can be saved, if it’s possible, we’d like to do it.”
Construction of the grandstand began in 1939 and appeared to have been completed within a year or two, according to a newspaper report from the time. The old wooden building can seat several hundred people and has overlooked the baseball diamond for decades.
For years, city leaders looked at upgrading the structure as it fell into disrepair. In a 2009 report for a local economic development group, consultants deemed the grandstand an important piece of the city’s architectural heritage and recommended retaining it. The city’s 2015 municipal plan called for upgrades, too, as have past city budgets.
But at the city council meeting Dec. 21, City Manager Laura Dolgin reported that the building had become a hazard and the city’s insurance company had recommended tearing it down, despite its historical value.
With the demolition plans in motion, residents and officials — acting as citizens — formed the group to save the grandstand.
The committee is essentially an exploratory effort, Johnson said, to see whether the grandstand is salvageable.
“We figured if we didn’t try to do something about it now, come this summer, the building would be torn down,” said resident Roger Cartee, chair of the unofficial committee.
Cartee said the group has several major hurdles to clear before any repair work could occur.
The grandstand sits within a floodplain, he said, and the group would need state approval to rehab it. The group hopes to get in touch with state officials this week, he said.
Structural analysis of the building needs to be completed, too. Cartee said a study done six years ago had essentially been a visual assessment of the building; a new study would be needed to gauge the grandstand’s structural integrity.
Speaking last week on a local television show, Monette, the mayor, said the group wants to become a subcommittee of the city’s downtown development group so it can qualify for grants.
The mayor said he met recently with a member of the development organization, Newport City Downtown Development Corp., also known as Newport City Renaissance Corp. Cartee said that the grandstand idea was well-received and that the organization’s board of directors will discuss the proposal in the coming weeks.
“Then we can start dealing with state and federal grants and getting money into the area,” Cartee said. “This is not going to be a cheap project — that’s for sure.”
He said group members have a good relationship with city officials and aren’t looking to blame anyone in particular for the current state of the grandstand.
“If it can’t be saved, it can’t be saved,” Cartee said. “It’s as simple as that. But it certainly will not be without a fight because we’re going to do everything we can to see if we can fix it.”
