A New Archives Center for Rhode Island?

The Declaration of Independence. Courtesy of Rhode Island State Archives.

About 10 million historical items fall under the purview of the R.I. Secretary of State’s office: records, documents, archived materials
and items donated by the public. Most are neatly piled into boxes and drawers in the back of a cramped building on Providence’s Broad Street, home to the current State Archives. The overflow — approximately 4,000 boxes — are stored offsite. 

But the materials, which date from 1638, are in urgent need of a new home, says Secretary of State Gregg Amore. 

“We are the only state that leases commercial space for our archives, and the only New England state that does not have a purpose-built archives,” Amore says. “We have a vault and fire-suppression and temperature control that protects those documents, but it’s not intended to be an archives.”

Fifteen percent of the items aren’t being housed and stored to industry standards, which has led Amore to campaign for a new Archives building. One, across from the State House on Smith Street, has 50,000 square feet of space, with room for a large exhibit space and treasures room to showcase the historical jewels like the state’s original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. 

The current Archives building has 11,000 square feet of space. The lease, which runs through June 2030, costs $300,000 annually.

The Smith Street building is Amore’s preferred site. General Assembly leaders, however, turned down a $60 million bond measure Amore sought to help offset the building’s $100 million price tag. But they did include $500,000 in this year’s budget to create a new streamlined design and study additional sites, including a parcel near the downtown train station, the State Health Laboratory building on Orms Street and the Smith Street parcel. 

Amore hopes to finish the studies and planning over the course of the year and present an option for a new Archives building to the General Assembly in a future budget. 

“We’re really focused on an exhibit space and the treasures area to preserve and protect and make those documents accessible. As far as we’re concerned, that’s a nonnegotiable part of this process,” he says. “So the project’s alive, and we had great conversations with members of the General Assembly and the leadership around the importance of the project. They know this has to happen. It’s just how it’s going to happen.”