The Industrial Trust Building (Superman) is Not a Tear-Down

The Industrial Trust Building (Superman) is Not a Tear-Down

The recent use of “tear-down” as a headline grabber from Governor McKee’s comments on the Industrial Trust Building, when he stated that retrofit of the Art Deco tower is “more likely,” is disappointing and irresponsible. It is time for Rhode Island to embrace the glass half full.

The skyscraper-- the Superman Building, as it is affectionately known-- can be saved, reused, and regain its place as the centerpiece of downtown Providence, the keystone of both Kennedy Plaza and Westminster Street. We are capable of such a large and challenging preservation and adaptive reuse project. Just look at the award-winning South Street Landing or the Renaissance Hotel. All we need is political will and public demand to break the status quo.

In 2020, RISD graduate interior architecture students proved that creativity is not the issue. They designed seven imaginative and vastly different, but realistic, reuse schemes for the vacant building-- from housing to vertical farming to entertainment. The Providence Preservation Society and Building Enclosure Science wrote a white paper to dispel the prevailing notion that the building is crumbling. And yet certain media continue to perpetuate the impression that the building is a lost cause. It is not.

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There is a strong argument for the preservation of this architecturally and historically significant structure-- still the tallest building in Rhode Island-- and the place it holds in the city’s skyline and psyche of Rhode Islanders. We support this argument categorically. More importantly, however, we now face an environmental imperative to reuse the building and not send it to a landfill. Demolition is a lazy, ignorant, and not an inexpensive option. The adaptive reuse of the Superman Building can and should be the goal and made a priority of elected officials and civic and business leaders.

We hope the near lapse of the current building owner’s tax bill and potential for a tax sale, along with the unfortunate emphasis on only part of the Governor’s recent comment, will lead to productive and ambitious conversation and action about this vacant landmark building, our skyline superhero.

Rachel Robinson, Director of Preservation and Brent Runyon, Executive Director of Providence Preservation Society