Gately Building

Gately Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The building before conversion to residences
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Location	Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Coordinates	41°52′40.6986″N 71°23′14.8446″W
Built	1914
MPS	Pawtucket MRA
NRHP reference No.	12000135[1]
Added to NRHP	March 20, 2012

The Gately Building is a historic commercial building at 337–353 Main Street[2] (alternatively given as 335 Main St[3] or 2 Bayley St.)[4] in downtown Pawtucket, Rhode Island The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.[1] In 2015, the property was renovated into a 13-unit apartment building.[4]

Style

The three-story flatiron building was built in 1914 to fill in a triangular lot on the fringe of the city's central business district.[5] It has a flat roof, a steel frame, and is clad in brick with granite and marble trim, with a granite foundation[5] and cast iron fronts on the first floor.[2] Its Colonial Revival styling dates to alterations in the 1930s converting its ground-floor retail spaces into a single banking center.[2] The floor space is about 5,000 square feet on each floor.[5] Large windows surround the building on all sides.[3]

History

Another view, before renovation

The building was commissioned by Anne E. Gately (b. 1854), heiress to the Gately furniture and clothing store.[5] She purchased the building which previously stood on this lot, had it demolished, and the current building constructed.[5] Architect Albert H. Humes was superintendent of construction, although it is not known if he also designed the building.[5] Pawtucket Architect Samuel B Fuller designed the building.

When it was opened in 1914, the ground floor was home to four street-level storefronts.[3][5] By 1935, the Old Colony Cooperative Bank occupied the entire first floor.[3] The building also contained offices of The Providence Journal newspaper[3] and a dental office; the latter being the building's longest tenant, from 1941 to 1986.[5]

The building stood vacant and neglected from 1993 to 2015, slowly deteriorating and becoming a detriment to neighborhood development.[4]

Conversion to residences

In 2015, money from the state's 2012 affordable housing bond was used to convert the building to a housing complex with 13 rental units and community space.[4][3] The renovation restored the building to its original historic appearance.[3][4] In September 2016, the building was praised by Governor Gina Raimondo and Mayor Donald Grebien as a successful example of how affordable housing bonds can revitalize neighborhoods and create jobs.[4]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Pawtucket, Rhode Island

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
2. "Minutes of the RI Historical Preservation Commission Meeting, November 9, 2011" (PDF). State of Rhode Island. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
3. Shorey, Ethan (March 17, 2015). "Pride being restored to historic Gately Building". The Valley Breeze. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
4. Shorey, Ethan (September 20, 2016). "Gately Building highlighted as affordable housing success story". The Valley Breeze. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
5. "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form" (PDF). January 26, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2015.