The Statewide Advocate for Historic Places | | 60 Years of Section 106: Will We Let it Be Slashed? | | Demolition in Lippitt Hill during Providence's urban renewal. Section 106 was created in response to the destruction of this period. Source: PPS's Urban Renewal Guide / Providence City Archives. | | |
This week marks the 60th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act. A bill now moving in the Senate, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S. 5653), would effectively kill Section 106, the provision that gives communities a voice when governmental decisions threaten the places that matter to them. The bill covers many kinds of permitting, and we’re not weighing in on all of it. But its historic preservation provisions deserve our full attention.
Currently, all projects that receive federal funds, including most state large-scale construction projects, must be reviewed for damage to historic properties and important cultural landscapes. A finding of “adverse effect” does not stop the project. Rather, a process of negotiation towards alteration and mitigation must take place.
This bill, in contrast:
- Lets federal agencies themselves, rather than State and Tribal historic preservation offices (as it is currently), decide whether historic resources are at risk, and whether a long list of other considerations outweigh historic preservation. The federal agency grades its own homework.
- Limits what requires review, excluding projects whose only federal involvement is financial assistance. State projects will largely no longer be subject to review.
- Generally treats visual, atmospheric, and audible effects as not adverse. A pipeline or transmission line could dominate a historic landscape, and the bill tells us that doesn’t count.
- Removes certain transmission and pipeline activities within existing corridors from Section 106 entirely, even where historic properties could be affected.
- Makes public participation a matter of agency discretion. Federal agencies won’t be beholden to the people.
- Restricts the courts with a 150-day deadline on legal challenges and a general limit to who may sue. Federal agencies will almost be impossible to take to court.
- And more.
The bill’s sponsors say it creates a defined timeline consultation and secures a statutory role for Tribes. A seat at the table means little when the agency can end the meeting, shrink the agenda, and limit who can object afterward. The bill also sets no comparable requirement that agencies conducting reviews maintain qualified historic preservation staff. In practice this effectively makes review something agencies do when they choose to, not something they must do.
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Last Chance! Get Your Rhody Awards Ticket
Join Us at the 2026 Rhody Awards for Historic Preservation
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The Rhody Awards are almost here! This year’s awardees exemplify the best in preservation this year and your presence at this year’s Awards Ceremony will help us show them how special they are and how deeply they are appreciated.
Landmark-saving brick-and-mortar restoration projects, setting guidelines to better inform future preservation efforts, mapping timeless history before it gets lost forever — the award winners have contributed immeasurably to everyone in Rhode Island. As our nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, it’s more important than ever to recognize the work that makes Rhode Island a unique treasure trove of history.
The 18th annual Rhody Awards will take place at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence on Sunday, October 25th from 4 to 7 PM. Reserve your tickets today for what has become the event of the year for preservation in Rhode Island.
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Funding Opportunity for Non-Profits in RI
1772 Grant Funding Available for 2027
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We are now accepting Letters of Inquiry for the 2027 grant round in cooperation with the 1772 Foundation!
Funding in the form of 1:1 matching grants of up to $10,000 will be made available for historic preservation projects in Rhode Island. Organizations must have a 501(c)(3) IRS designation, must have closed any previously awarded matching grant to apply, and must own the property or have a long-term lease to use the property.
New this year: This year Rhode Island will also have an additional, separate $10,000 to be used for climate action grants in a new pilot program with The 1772 Foundation. The same 1:1 matching terms and other requirements apply.
Letters are due by December 1, 2026. Eligible organizations/projects will be invited to submit a full application by December 11, 2026, with applications due by February 2, 2027.
For questions, please contact us at 1772@preserveri.org.
| | Sign Up to Join the Preservation Roundtable | | |
Preservation has been under constant threat in recent years. The demolition of iconic landmarks, both at the national and local level, demands greater collaboration of those interested in preserving the history of Rhode Island. In response, Preserve RI is looking to restart the Preservation Roundtable, a former program that brought together preservationists across Rhode Island to discuss timely topics. We are hoping to strategize around pressing issues, including a response to changes to Section 106 (and how the state can mitigate them), Historic Tax Credits, and the overall disinvestment in preservation at the statewide level.
Interested in joining the Roundtable and receive updates regarding the planning? Email Zach Russell, Preservation Coordinator, by clicking the button below.
| | House Work Brings RISD Student Design to Lippitt House Museum | | An image from the current RISD Furniture Design Department photo shoot at Lippitt House Museum. Photo Credit: Jonah Takagi | | |
On View Through the Month of October
Special Reception: October 15
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In collaboration with Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), House Work: Objects, Occupants and Conditions at Lippitt House Museum brings the work of RISD Furniture Design students into the rooms of one of Providence’s National Historic Landmarks. On view for three weeks this October, the exhibition asks visitors to consider the relationship between furniture, architecture, domestic life, and history.
As part of an MFA-level Furniture Design course, RISD students have explored not only Lippitt House and its beautifully preserved furnishings, but the social, cultural, and technological forces that shaped 19th-century New England. Considering class, gender, labor, technology, and Providence’s industrial economy, the artists' contemporary works offer new ways to understand the house as a place shaped by the people who lived and worked within it. .
Visitors interested in meeting the RISD Furniture Design students and instructors will be able to do so at the special Exhibition Reception on October 15, from 5:00-8:00 PM. The reception is free and open to the public, though advance registration is requested.
Admission to the exhibition is “pay what you wish.” Advance tickets are available by clicking the button below.
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People in Preservation: Jillian Finkle
Deputy Director, Grow Smart RI | Director, Main Streets RI
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Jillian Finkle is the Deputy Director of Grow Smart RI and the Director of Main Street RI. She previously served as the Principal Planner for the City of Central Falls, RI and before that as the Coordinator of the Broad Street Regeneration Initiative, a joint planning and revitalization effort in the cities of Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Cumberland, RI. Jillian spent many years in the museum field, designing exhibits and programs especially for children’s and history museums and zoos/aquariums. She also served as the Managing Director of Providence PlayCorps. A 2020 graduate of Leadership RI, she holds an MA in Museum Studies from The George Washington University and a BS in Communication Studies from Northwestern University. She lives with her family in Cranston.
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How did you get started in a career focused on Main Street revitalization?
About ten years ago, I was lucky enough to be hired by the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council to coordinate the Broad Street Regeneration Initiative. Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Cumberland were working together to revitalize their shared Broad Street corridor, and I was a liaison between the project and the community, especially the small businesses. Basically, we were trying to be a Main Street program without knowing it, and even though everyone saw the value of the work, we struggled to explain it. This made it difficult to get funding.
When I learned that Main Street America had been supporting these types of efforts in thousands of other communities for decades, I really wanted to bring the program to Rhode Island. During COVID, Grow Smart RI decided to let me try. And here we are!
What made you feel strongly about bringing a Main Streets program to Rhode Island?
I believe we are social creatures that need to connect with each other - and our communities - for our individual and collective well-being. To do that, we need physical places in the real world to meet and gather. The concept of the town square or village center is ancient; they developed naturally because people required centers of commerce and civic activity. Now that so much of our daily activity is online or spread out, commercial districts and their small businesses need intentional support to successfully facilitate this vital human need. Rhode Island has so many of these districts and people who love them, but hasn’t had the framework to pull all the pieces together in each place. That’s what the Main Street Approach provides.
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Keeping History Above Water Conference
Registration is open for Newport Restoration Foundation’s Keeping History Above Water: Looking Back, Moving Forward symposium.
Held from October 21-23 in Newport, RI, the symposium features 14 practical sessions and 8 site visits. Join NRF to explore solutions that strengthen cultural heritage resilience and shape the future of historic preservation in the wake of climate change. Connect with experts in the field and cultural heritage professionals while seeing first-hand resiliency efforts in Newport.
Learn more and register at newportrestoration.org.
Film Presentation on Community Preservation
On Thursday, October 29, the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center in Providence will present the film One SMALL Miracle, followed by a conversation with artist Alan Metnick. The film explores the recovery and preservation of a Jewish cemetery in Poland, along with questions of family history, memory, and what it means to care for places whose communities were destroyed. Learn more here.
RFP for Old Station Building Purchase in Bristol
The Bristol County Water Authority (BCWA) is accepting sealed proposals for the purchase and redevelopment of the Old Station Building associated with the former water treatment works of the BCWA on a parcel of land located at 472 Child Street, Warren, Rhode Island. Proposals shall be accepted at BCWA offices located at 450 Child Street, Warren, RI 02885 until 4:00 pm prevailing time, on October 22, 2026.
For the complete RFP, please visit our website www.bcwari.com
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