Are There Any "Oddfellows" in East Providence?

A proposal to have a developer renovate the long vacant Odd Fellow's home at the base of Warren Avenue in Watchemoket Square is finally moving ahead. As a Reporter story described in 2014, it may seem obvious that there would be no shortage of 'odd fellows or odd persons' in the city if one were to seek nominations for such. But guffaws aside, there really is a facility in the city for the former purpose of housing "indigent odd fellows." According to the RI Historical Society, The Odd Fellows' Home Association of Rhode Island was founded in 1903 to manage a retirement home for indigent Odd Fellows.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows didn’t cut corners when they built a new meeting hall to accommodate their growing brotherhood in the 1880s. They hired leading Providence architectural firm Gould & Angell to design the new building in the then-fashionable shingle style and gave it an ample 8,300 square feet of interior space.

For a location they chose the bustling center of 19th-century East Providence, the riverfront western end of Warren Avenue known as Watchemoket Square. The building at 63-65 Warren Avenue would serve as the Odd Fellows’ Rhode Island headquarters for 82 years, but eventually the influence of both the fraternal organization and their neighborhood would wane.

Built in 1889 and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Odd Fellows Hall is valued at $185,200 according to city assessor records. One problem - it's falling apart. Former City Manager Paul Lemont told the council in 2014, that the roof leaks so bad that "workers can't and won't get up there to fix it". "It's getting worse by the day," said Lemont who showed little interest in spending money to fix it. "The entire renovation, to bring the place up to code, could cost as much as $2M," said Lemont. "In the meantime we are fixing an overhang roof at the high school entrance, the library roof, Pierce Field press box (baseball) which is rotting, and other needy projects," outlined Lemont.

Current interim city manager Timothy Chapman has told the now city council that several developers have expressed some interest in the building. Chapman and city planner director Jeanne Boyle have prepared a Request For Proposal to advertise for developer ideas and renovation. Boyle agreed with former manager Lemont's guess that it "will take more than a million dollars to refurbish" the vacant property.

Boyle and Chapman envision a plan where a developer could build "coffee shop type businesses" in the first floor with office space or maybe residential space in the upper levels.

Boyle indicated that funding help may come due to the historic status of the building and possibly from Community Block Grant Funding. The building is around the corner from a revitalized waterfront area which will include the large Live Nation venue soon featuring concerts with a capacity for up to 3500 visitors per show.