Welcome to ArtInRuins
ArtInRuins is undergoing a makeover. For over 190 properties, photographs have been re-cropped, enhanced, and enlarged. Histories have been researched and expanded and current events have been updated. Enjoy!
Recently updated Properties
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Updated 19 June, 2021: An 1860s gasometer with unheroic uses for a century before being reborn as small business and community space
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Updated 18 June, 2021: A former high-art-style consumer banking lobby and offices becomes a 56,000 sf art library and housing for 500 students
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Updated 14 June, 2021: An early-addition to Capital Center, built next to the new train station after Waterplace Park was created
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Updated 12 June, 2021: A small single-story brick commercial-industrial storefront with subtle art-deco details
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Updated 31 May, 2021: While only a small 2,600 sf portion of the original complex remains, it’s great that it was saved
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Updated 29 May, 2021: This ornate former single-family home was built in stages and owned by two prominent business people that almost succumbed to the wrecking ball
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Updated 25 May, 2021: A 100-year-old ornamental steel and iron manufacturer gets a new life as a center for vocational training and art creation
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Updated 10 May, 2021: This chalet-style 19th century Stone & Carpenter design was reivigorated in 2002 with new foundation and additional connecting buildings to expand Brown’s Hillel Center
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Updated 8 May, 2021: This reinforced concrete frame building was the first modern-style, large windowed design in the City
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Updated 6 May, 2021: This 120-year old station has see fires and rehabilitation, but the remarkably handsome structure is still standing and useful and full of tenants
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Updated 3 May, 2021: A masterpiece of the Italian Romanesque style designed by a young newcomer who would later become an architecture star in his relatively short life
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Updated 30 April, 2021: Once the largest manufacturer of costume jewelry, this building was vacant in the 80s but then revived by Lifespan as their corporate headquarters
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Updated 26 April, 2021: A modest turn-of-the-century three story mill in a dense mill area of Pawtucket
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Updated 25 April, 2021: A large mill built in stages with an iconic square, open-top stair tower visible from Interstate 95.
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Updated 24 April, 2021: This stone mill off of a main road has many modern additions, like vinyl siding and brick warehouses, but its roots go back to 1775
197 properties and 3,607 images.
Anecdotes
1,549 anecdotes from people just like you.
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The building that 21 east nightclub was knocked down in 1987 to build Shooters nightclub and restaurant
Pat Cortellessa on Shooter’s Waterfront Cafe -
I am Liz Vaughn’s older brother and the son of Richard Vaughn. I worked in the Warwick building for years, every summer sweeping floors and school holiday. I went to college and joined the Army (service to country was/is a family tradition) and when i left active duty I worked...
Mark Kennedy Vaughn on L. Vaughn & Company -
“Accidental”, if you will, discovery in 1992; A place ON the beach was the only requirement for a simple honeymoon stay. Oh what a jewel!! Orange velour bedspreads, a foam padded headboard, indoor/outdoor carpeting, mismatched flea market furniture, itty bitty bath towels, two...
Anne Malone-Laraby on Ocean House -
My grandfather was Primo. My father, Enrico, would take me there as a child. “Poppy” would give me a pail of water and a paint brush. I would brush all the beautiful statues he had on display in front of the building while my father helped him work.
Joyce Landi on Primo Art Company -
My 3rd grade went there on a class trip in 1956, we were given a loaf of bread and a cardboard put together bread truck. Even for a 3rd grader it was very interesting.
Marshall Martin on Ward Baking Company -
I had a client up on the fifth floor, FirstWorks, that I would visit once a year when we kicked off a new season. The building had a great old vibe to it, with glass transoms over the doors, an old elevator, iron railings, and a cool skylight over the stairwell.
Highchair on Trayne Building -
Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows the date that the Three Stooges performed at the park? I am talking about around 1968 I believe. I believe it was around Memorial Day. My Mom and Dad brought me for my birthday. Over 50 years ago and I still remember the day. I met Moe after...
Barry Belotti on Crescent Park -
My Dad, Charles Koch, worked as warehouse manager in the Atlas building for 20 years. The warehouse storage company was owned by Charles Sherman. As a young boy of 16 years old I worked there in 1968. I would clean the offices in the morning and then move out to the warehouse ...
Steve Koch on Atlas and Terminal Warehouses
