Partnerships - Campus Heritage

CAMPUS HERITAGE PRESERVATION PLAN

Two years after becoming the first New England institution to ever receive a Getty Grant Program award ($202,000) to develop a Campus Heritage Preservation Plan, Salve Regina University officials unveiled the plan – a comprehensive, "living," system to manage campus heritage.

Web-based access to the Campus Heritage Preservation Plan will be featured on this site, (please check back as contents of the plan are being added this fall) as well as through the university's intranet, providing for internal web-based communication. This web-based document provides the most effective way to create a dynamic, "living" plan capable of being modified as future changes are being made to the campus, whether through repair or preservation of a historic building, or change in use of a historic building.

The Campus Heritage Preservation Plan includes a detailed review of 21 buildings which comprise seven contiguous 19th century estates that distinguish Salve Regina's historic campus. The plan includes full existing conditions reports, restorative plans and, where appropriate, comprehensive recommendations and plans for adaptive reuse.

This plan serves as a model for other institutions with historically significant buildings interested in coordinating the management of their maintenance and use while remaining sensitive to their heritage. Salve Regina's plan will also become an important component of its academic program in cultural and historic preservation.

Salve's Campus Heritage Preservation Plan also provides further structure and resources for the university's practice of utilizing its campus as an academic "living laboratory". The plan has been integrated as the key component of several classes in the Cultural and Historic Preservation Program, as well as affording students countless opportunities for independent study.

"One of the great legacies of Salve Regina to students and graduates is the wonderful architecture where they live and study" said Salve Regina President Dr. M. Therese Antone, R.S.M. "Our campus is a living museum, a learning laboratory of American architectural styles, technical accomplishments, social patterns and economic history. We value this heritage and we feel a strong sense of responsibility to preserve it for future generations of students, members of the community and visitors to Newport."

Since 2002, the J. Paul Getty Trust has awarded 51 Campus Heritage Grants – more than $7 million to support the architectural preservation needs of historic buildings, sites and landscapes on college and university campuses across the United States.