State Begins Cleaning Graffiti off Historic Arsenal on Benefit St. After GoLocal Article

State Begins Cleaning Graffiti off Historic Arsenal on Benefit St. After GoLocal Article

Give credit, but, it's not done yet. The state is putting people and resources to clean off the graffiti on the historic Arsenal structure on Benefit Street.

After a GoLocal article showed how one of the state’s prized historic buildings had been plastered with graffiti over the past few months, the state of Rhode Island’s Department of Administration responded, and this past week, cleaning the graffiti off the structure has begun.

Last Saturday, GoLocal reported that the Gothic Revival Arsenal of the Marine Corps Artillery had been tagged more than 20 times.

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The landmark located on Benefit Street is one of the most historic streets in America. Each week hundreds of tourists stroll down Benefit Street -- U.S. News and about a dozen other travel guides rank Benefit Street as a "must-see" attraction for those visiting Providence.

One side of the building was nearly completely cleaned and two more were well in the process. 

“The State Arsenal is in its locale a small but important example of early battlemented Gothic Revival architecture, a pseudo-fortress appro­priate to its internal militia activities. It ls one of the few excur­sions into the Gothic manner by Russell Warren, a Rhode Island native who was one of the outstanding architects in this and other states during the full first half of the XIX Century. The arsenal is an important part of our architectural legacy," stated the application to the U.S. Department of Interior for consideration of historic designation.

"The Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance within the Department of Administration has reached out to the leaseholder of the building and other stakeholders to have the graffiti removed. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation in quickly starting to address this problem," said Derek Gomes, Senior Management and Methods Analyst at the RI Department of Administration.

EDITOR'S NOTE: GoLocal will report again when the building is completely cleaned.