The Renaissance Providence Hotel (historically known as the Mason Building, and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

under Masonic Temple)—is one of two monumental buildings in central

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, US, that remained unfinished and were then abandoned for decades. Originally intended as a meeting hall for the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, construction work began in 1927, but was halted in 1929 as a result of the financial crisis of that year. With the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, construction was halted permanently. It was added (under the name "Masonic Temple") to the

in 1993, along with the adjacent Veterans Memorial Auditorium. In 2004 the building was rehabilitated and opened as a hotel in 2007.

Description

The building, constructed in the

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style, is located prominently on Francis Street opposite the

Rhode Island State House The Rhode Island State House, the capitol of the state of Rhode Island, is located at 82 Smith Street just below the crest of Smith Hill, Providence, Rhode Island, Smith Hill, on the border of Downtown, Providence, Rhode Island, downtown in Prov ...

. The opening of the Providence Place Mall next door across Hayes Street has made the site prime real estate. In 2004, the building was purchased by Sage Hospitality Resources, which converted it into a luxury

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

, which opened in June 2007. The adjoining building known as the Veterans Memorial Auditorium (VMA), located between the hotel and

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

, was originally part of the same complex, and was connected to the unfinished Masonic Temple by a small structure at ground level. While construction halted at the same time as that at the Temple building, the auditorium was completed in the 1950s.

Controversy

In 2011, the hotel received widespread attention for its working conditions following worker attempts at unionizing and a viral YouTube video of a worker quitting in protest with a marching band. Workers at the hotel—a large number of whom are of Dominican origin—called for a boycott of the hotel. The Procaccianti Group of

Cranston, Rhode Island Cranston, formerly known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second-largest city in the state. The center of ...

, which bought the hotel in late 2012, denied any wrongdoing and called the boycott "misguided". The labor dispute continued after Omni Hotels, of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, bought the property in 2015.

References

External links

* (Originally published in the

Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, the largest newspaper in Rhode Island, US. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspaper had won four ...

)
VMA Arts & Cultural CenterGoogle Local
*{{cbignore, bot=medic
Masonic Temple transformed
Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Buildings and structures in Providence, Rhode Island Masonic buildings in Rhode Island Hotels in Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Providence, Rhode Island Renaissance Hotels