Holy Name School

About this Property

#Redevelopment

This former Catholic school, around the corner from Holy Name Roman Catholic Church, opened around 1930 and closed in 2004 due to low enrollment. It sat vacant for about 10 years before a developer started to investigate converting the building.

“My client purchased it in 2015 and it took him years to get all the permits and everything with the neighbors onboard with the building project,” says listing agent Debbie Gold of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage – Providence. “So it’s very unique in Providence, especially the East Side, which doesn’t have a big complex like this.”¹

The school was converted into 24 two-bedroom units in five different floor plan configurations. The building also has a shared fitness room, meeting and recreation rooms, an elevator, and enclosed indoor parking on the lower level (east entrance) for an additional fees. All the units have central air, gas fireplaces, high ceilings, crown molding, and wainscoting and are for purchase, not rent.

#Current Events

All units have been sold but will come up occasionally on real estate sites when owners want to sell.

#History

No official history has been found. The former school had an address of 55 Camp Street. It does not appear in maps until the 1937 G.M. Hopkins map.

• Does not appear. An octagonal house seems to be on the corner of the property — 1920–1921 Sanborn Map
• Appears — 1937 G.M. Hopkins Map
• A more detailed view of the school building — 1920–1951 Sanborn Map

The construction consists of grey/tan brick with carved soapstone details. The building is 2 stories over a raised basement. Corners of the “M” plan building have decorative carved pillars. The roof is low-pitched and covered with Spanish-style roof tiles. The cornice is shallow with decorative brackets. The circa 1930s school had separate entrances; girls entrance on the south wing and boys on the north. Central entrances are located on the east and west. The east entrance opens into the gymnasium which doubles as the auditorium.

#In the News

At closing Catholic schools, a sad start to summer

by Richard C. Dujardin
Providence Journal | June 18, 2004 (abridged)

This is the time when students look forward to summer vacation.

But yesterday at Holy Name School on Camp Street on the East Side and at St. Mary’s School on Barton Street off Broadway, many students seemed to wish the year wouldn’t end, knowing that after today their schools will be no more.

“I will miss this place. I’ll miss it a lot,” said sixth grader Ryan Rocha, as he and classmates gathered in the corridor at Holy Name.

“I can’t imagine another school like this,” said Chris Symonds, who, with sixth grader Justin Roderick, has fond memories of games won and lost on the basketball court, of being altar servers at Mass and of many friendships made.

“I’m so disappointed,” Chris said. “I would have at least liked to graduate from eighth grade.”

Although parents, teachers and students have known since March that the two schools were closing, the passage of time didn’t make it easier. […]

At Holy Name, first-grade teacher Gloria Linakas wanted to make sure that her students ended the year on positive note. So at 9:30 yesterday morning, she brought the children to her house for a daylong barbecue.

“My daughter and five of her friends from [St. Mary] Bay View organized all the activities,” Linakas said. “[The first graders] made T-shirts and picture frames, and then they went in my hot tub. We had the sprinkler going. Then my husband made the hot dogs and hamburgers.

“I think part of the reason I did it was I wanted the guys to always remember their first grade at Holy Name, and that when they thought about it, they would have good feelings about it.”

The children are sad, she said. “But we talked about how we don’t have a choice, and this must be what God wants for us, so we’ll just make the best of it and take what we’ve learned here and hopefully live very good lives.”

Rita Antone, who had been teaching sixth, seventh and eighth grades, said she thought the toughest day would be today, when everyone assembles for prayer.

“When we have morning prayer for the final time, that’s when it’s going to hit us,” she said. “Almost every day since we found out we were closing, our great principal, Tom Mezzanotte, has said things like, ‘We have to enjoy every day and be thankful for the days we have left.’ Even up to today, we still had a day left.

“But tomorrow, we’re not going to have any days left. That’s when I think it’s going to start.”

The Providence Diocese closed the schools because of low enrollment, continuing deficits and projected deficits. It said it could not justify putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into the schools when other nearby Catholic schools had empty seats.

Holy Name’s enrollment climbed to 150 this year and St. Mary’s had 145 students. […]

At Holy Name, Mezzanotte said 40 percent to 50 percent of the students are signed up to go to other Catholic schools, including St. Mary’s in Pawtucket, St. Patrick’s and St. Ann’s in Providence, and St. Matthew’s in Cranston. Linakas said all but 1 of her 18 first graders are enrolling in other Catholic schools. Linakas is headed for Mercymount Country Day School in Cumberland. […]

Mezzanotte said the children and their families have been understanding.

“Holy Name has been around for many years, and roots are deep here,” he said. “There are children in school here whose parents came here and graduated. And I know that anyone who was associated with the school will be upset. But I just got a card from a former teacher, 101 years old. She wrote in her note that she had fond memories of the school, but that ‘all good things must come to an end.’” […]

—

DUJARDIN, RICHARD C.. “At closing Catholic schools, a sad start to summer.” Providence Journal (RI), Metro ed., sec. News, 18 June 2004, pp. C-01. NewsBank: America’s News, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&docref=news/15242ACEAA93B820. Accessed 29 Aug. 2022.