John W. Keefe Surgical Hospital

About this Property

#Redevelopment

Built as a local hospital before 1920, this handsome brick three story building with symmetrical facade was only used as a surgical center until around 1940 — about 25 years. It spent time as a catholic friary from 1940 until about 1976, or another 36 years. And then finally, it changed religious affiliation and was the home of the New England Academy of Torah until about 2013 — another 40 years. The building changed hands in 2013 and has been vacant and unused for a little over 10 years.

A Providence Journal Real Estate transaction listing includes this address as transferring from Arnold T Galkin T & Jay N Rosenstein to Avraham & Chana Rosenthal for the sum of $318,000 in June 31, 2013.¹ The tax assessor’s database lists a sale on August 30, 2024 in the amount of $1,390,000. Our guess is that the sale included the entire lot, which was subsequently subdivided into two and sold for $869,900 with the seller willing to build to suit.² The profit from the empty lot sale will likely partially fund the conversion of the former rabbinical college.

The Providence Development mapper marks this location as the site for an “Adaptive re-use of rabbinical college into 14 residential units.” We have not been able to find any submitted public plans for the site. It is not listed as part of the Blackstone Boulevard Realty Plat Historic District, which is the closest historic overlay district in the area.

#Current Events

Construction on the exterior and interior has begun in the summer of 2025. A lot to the west has been subdivided (251 Slater Avenue) and looks to have a single-family dwelling under construction.

#History

The build date of 1914 comes from the tax assessor’s database. The maps show it was built between 1908 and 1920.

John W. Keefe was a medical practitioner, married to Anastasia S., residing at 168 Governor Street.³ In the business portion of the directory, John W. Keefe Surgery was listed under the heading “Hospitals & Dispensaries”⁴ as well as individually as a practitioner under “Physicians & Surgeons.”⁵ We are very curious how a single surgeon was able to afford their own hospital building of this size.

By 1940, the address listed the “St. Francis Friary” at this address.⁶ Names associated with the friary change often throughout the 50s and 60s. One of the more interesting names in 1966 is the Reverend Seraphin Winteroth of the “Province of Saint Mary of the Capuchin Order”.⁷

The friary stopped being cited by the 1976 directory. The “New England Academy of Torah” is listed at this address instead⁸ and is associated with Rabbi Norman Cohen (page 443/582).

In the 1985 directory the academy is also listed under the name “Fishbein Louis & Sarah Memorial Building.”⁹ It is not consistently listed under this additional name. The New England Academy of Torah appears as late as the 2013 directory.

The New England Academy of Torah had active graduation listings in the Journal until the 2013 school year. There was no graduation listing in 2014, which is when we guess they closed. The news story cited below explains how housing affordability has affected the orthodox Jewish population in the city, which has been declining and likely contributed to the closing or shrinking and relocation of the Academy.

Maps

• 1908 L.J. Richards Insurance Map, Plate 10 (private collection) — The block described below is empty of structures and labelled “M.H. Truman” as the owner and “10000” as the lot size.
• 1920–1921 Sanborn Insurance Map, Volume 2, Plate 63 (page 72) — In the top right corner of the map, between Blackstone Blvd and Slater Avenue, above the cross street of Magellan, is a pink/red (indicating brick) three story building with a raised basement (hence the marking “3B”) with central, wooden entrances on the east and west. The name label is “John W. Keefe Surgical Hospital.” It is the only structure on the approximately 200 x 100 foot lot which spans the distance between Slate and Blackstone Blvd. It is also labelled with postal number 262.
• 1920–1951 Sanborn Insurance Map, Volume 2, Plate 63 (page 74) — Same footprint, same location, nothing else noted on the plat. Labelled “St. Francis Friary.”

#In the News

Incentives offered to bring Orthodox Jews to Providence

by Antonia Noori Farzan
Providence Journal |January 25, 2024 (abridged)

Providence’s Orthodox Jewish community is hoping to grow its numbers – and, in light of the rising cost of housing, is offering a $50,000 subsidy to new families who move here.

Those families will also receive a year of free tuition at Providence Hebrew Day School for each of their children, plus a $1,000 move-in stipend that they can spend on movers, grocers, babysitting, or whatever else they need.

“It’s really about affordability, that’s what this is all about,” said Rabbi Peretz Scheinerman, the dean of Providence Hebrew Day School. “The East Side has just become unaffordable for the average young Orthodox family with a couple of kids.”

Orthodox Jews don’t drive on the Sabbath, which means that they need to live within walking distance of an Orthodox synagogue, Scheinerman explained. That limits the number of places where they can live – and, locally, the East Side of Providence and nearby Oak Hill neighborhood in Pawtucket fit the bill.

But numerous families have left the area in recent years, Scheinerman said. As a result, enrollment at Providence Hebrew Day School has suffered.

The local community is hoping to reverse that trend, and has launched a new website, jewishprovidence.com, to promote the city. Scheinerman said that they’ve received a grant for the recruitment initiative, and will be looking to sponsor between five to 10 families, “depending on the funding.”

Why is Providence’s Orthodox Jewish community shrinking?

About 15 Orthodox families have left Providence in the past year, Beth Abrahim, a member of the recruitment committee, told Jewish Rhode Island.

Scheinerman said that housing costs are a major factor, especially since Orthodox Jews typically have large families. Additionally, he said, families that move to states like Ohio and Florida can benefit from school choice initiatives that will largely cover the cost of tuition at private Jewish day schools. […]

There’s also a “domino effect,” Scheinerman said. As class sizes dwindle and children see their friends moving away, other families may choose to leave so that they can be part of a larger community.

“Within the Orthodox world, many smaller communities are struggling with this,” he said. […]

The East Side and Oak Hill area is home to several Orthodox synagogues, Providence Hebrew Day School, the New England Academy of Torah Girls High School, and kosher dining options such as Bubbie’s Market on Hope Street, the website notes. There’s also a mikvah, or ritual bath, at the Jewish Community Center. […] [Editor’s note: Bubbie’s market closed in early 2025]

— Farzan, Antonia Noori. “Incentives offered to bring Orthodox Jews to Providence.” Providence Journal (RI), PFO-Journal ed., sec. News, 25 Jan. 2024, p. A5. NewsBank: America’s News – Historical and Current, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AMNEWS&req_dat=D4BD6B42F1AB4706B5E1244D477DEE03&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/196C8E7E144BB978. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.