Heritage Alliance of Pawtucket: Preservation Reward Program Application

Supporting Materials Enclosed Here, in addition to our written application 😊

this 3-minute video documents construction of 390 Pine Street in Pawtucket

Description of Historical Relevance

According to the National Park Service: “The former Conant Thread/Coats & Clark mill complex is architecturally significant as one of the most extensive and well-preserved textile mill complexes in Rhode Island. Historically, the Pawtucket plant was significant nationally, and even internationally, as a key element in the international thread trust dominated by J. § P. Coats. Locally, the operation was for many decades the largest employer in the City of Pawtucket and the largest textile establishment in the entire Blackstone Valley.”

Founded by Hezekiah Conant, the complex contributed significantly to the success of the Industrial Revolution, and this corner 2-story building is one of the only buildings to survive the massive mill fires of 2020.

Dating back to the 1880s and according to the National Park Service: “The Conant Thread / Coats & Clark Mill Complex New Office Building functioned as clerical space for the internationally known Conant Thread Company.  The Pawtucket plant was the largest textile mill complex in the Blackstone Valley & Pawtucket’s largest employer for many decades. The original 2-story, red brick building was constructed between 1880 and 1882. It is L-shaped in plan with a hipped roof and was designed in the Italianate style.  A 2-story red brick addition abuts the northern end of the original building. It became listed on the National Register in 1983." 

Summary of what the Project Contributes to the Community

Since opening, the main building now welcomes in more than 500 members from the public everyday with an outreach yoga studio, food pantry and art studio on the first floor. Upstairs 5 deed-restricted, affordable housing units are home to adults with disabilities, and 3 market-rate units are occupied by those who work in the immediate community. Also on the campus, a former garage has been transformed into the “LIFE Cafe” (operated by the social service agency LIFE Inc.) engaging the general public with food and drinks while also employing adults with disabilities. And because neighborhood revitalization is also part of mission in addition to preservation, the grounds have been environmentally remediated while the building is “green,” and care has been taken to install container and pollinator gardens.

Learn More About the Museum We Created Here, Honoring Our History

“This has been an under-utilized property that now comes to life for some non-profits, businesses and affordable housing. It’s an awesome thing; Alison took a shell of a building and that investment will help us more in the city.”

- Mayor Donald Grebien

“An art center, food bank, art studio, café, eight units of housing … Alison is a renaissance Rhode Islander; there are now developers trying to build more housing around this train station.”

-Stefan Pryor (then Commerce Secretary)

“A big cool project like this needs a spark plug and champion and that was Alison Bologna.”

- Senator Sheldon Whitehouse