The Pawtucket Times Building is a historic building at 23 Exchange Street in the historic central business district of

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket ( ) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence, Rhode Island, Prov ...

. It was formerly the home of the '' Pawtucket Times'' newspaper.

History

This five story masonry building was erected to house the facilities of the '' Pawtucket Times'', which was founded in 1885. The building was designed by architects William R. Walker & Son in 1895 and completed in 1896. In 1922 the ''Times'' completed a large utilitarian addition facing North Union Street. This was designed by Bellows & Aldrich of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. In 1950 the complex was expanded and remodeled to plans by the Dwight Seabury Company, local architects and engineers. In 2007 the owners of the ''Times'', which by then was occupying only the first floor, put the building on the market. It was nearly sold several times and was considered as the new home for the Gamm Theatre. In 2019 the building was acquired by the owner of the Pawtucket Armory and the ''Times'' moved out.Ethan Shorey,
Armory owner buys Times building
" The Valley Breeze, June 18, 2019. Accessed March 15, 2024. The new owner never moved ahead with redevelopment plans and the still-vacant building was placed back on the market in 2023. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1983.

Architecture

The main facade is faced in yellow brick with

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

trim. The first floor is divided into four

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, paired in size with the left one of the pair larger than the right. The entrance occupies the narrow bay on the far right, while the other bays are filled with windows and divided by limestone-faced

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

. The next three floors also have four bays, but they are organized in mirror-image pairs, with a larger central bay with tripled windows flanked by an outer bay with a single

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

. The

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented/structural item. In the case ...

treatments vary by floor; the windows on the fourth floor are round-arched. The fifth level is also organized in mirror-image paired bays, with the central bays each housing a row of four, small round-arch windows, and the outer bays only having two such windows. The building is topped by an elaborate

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Rev ...

lated

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

References

Newspaper headquarters in the United States Newspaper buildings Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Pawtucket, Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Pawtucket, Rhode Island Historic district contributing properties in Rhode Island {{ProvidenceCountyRI-NRHP-stub

History

Architecture

See also

References