City to seek proposals for use of Aldrich

The former Lockwood Junior High School is one example of what Aldrich Junior High School could become, says principal planner Richard Crenca.

With the construction of Winman Junior High in the 1970s, Lockwood was closed. It sat empty for years until sold to a developer who converted the building into condominiums and built two buildings on the site of the school football field.

Now Aldrich, located on Post Road opposite Walmart in the northern end of the city, has closed as part of the school consolidation plan. The school department has cleaned the building of lockers and other equipment and furnishings to be used in other schools. The School Committee voted in October to turn the building over to the city.

The administration doesn’t want the property to linger, either selling it or leasing it.

And the hope is that Aldrich’s future will also find a use for the Christopher Rhodes School that closed in 2008. The Rhode Island School for the Deaf leased Rhodes for a year after it closed as a Warwick elementary school. The school department turned the property over to the city in 2012. Since then it has sat empty despite concerted efforts on the part of former councilman Bruce Place and the administration to solicit proposals for the building.

The initial proposal was to convert the school to assisted living, but the city didn’t come up with any takers. Under a second plan that looked feasible, Artists’ Exchange of Cranston would have used the school for its programs, making rooms available for artists to have space in addition to opening its doors to community uses. In the end, even though the city was prepared to rent the building for $1, upgrades to the building to meet code and renovations at $5 million proved too costly.

Separated by a wetland, Aldrich and Rhodes share about 20 acres that conceivably could be the site for a single development.

At this point the city would like to hear what developers have to say. There are considerations.

“It’s completely surrounded by residences [the exception being Aldrich’s frontage on Post Road],” Crenca said. “We have to be sensitive to that, not only what’s going to go in but the traffic. It has to be a good fit for the surrounding neighbors and the city.”

Crenca calls Lockwood a “good template,” but he’s not limiting to a conversion of the building into condos or apartments. He suggests it could become assisted living or mixed use including offices. His personal preference would be to save the building that was built in 1934 and operated as a high school until 1955 when converted to a junior high.

Seemingly not up for consideration, although the city hasn’t finalized a request for proposals, is use of the site for a big box retail development, which Crenca said would not be compatible with the neighborhood. He said the city would seek a use compatible with the comprehensive plan.

In preparation for the solicitation of proposals, Sue Baker in the planning department is preparing a syllabus on the two schools that contains a plethora of information from the size of the two schools – Aldrich is 122,000 square feet and Rhodes is 47,000 – to utility services, parking, heating and type of construction.

Crenca thought the request for proposal would be “open ended” rather than limiting it to a lease or sale of one or both schools. He thought the city would be prepared to start advertising by the end of the month. Meanwhile, he urged anyone interested in possible development of the properties to contact him.