Renaissance Providence Hotel

Renaissance Providence Hotel—Masonic Temple

Renaissance Providence Hotel
Location Providence, Rhode Island
Coordinates 41°49′48″N 71°25′00″W / 41.83000°N 71.41667°W / 41.83000; -71.41667Coordinates: 41°49′48″N 71°25′00″W / 41.83000°N 71.41667°W / 41.83000; -71.41667
Built 1927
Architect Multiple
Architectural style Classical Revival
NRHP Reference # 93001181 [1]
Added to NRHP November 16, 1993

The Renaissance Providence Hotel, known locally as the Mason Building, is one of two monumental buildings in central Providence that remained unfinished and abandoned for decades. Originally planned as a meeting hall for the Freemasons, construction work was abandoned in 1929 as a result of financial difficulties caused by the Great Depression. With the outbreak of World War II construction was halted permanently.

The building, constructed in the Greek Revival style, is located prominently on Francis Street opposite the Rhode Island State House. 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. The Renaissance Providence Hotel opened in June 2007.[2]

The hotel received widespread attention for its working conditions following worker attempts at unionizing and a viral YouTube video[3] of a worker quitting in protest with a marching band.[4][5] Workers at the hotel have since called for a boycott of the hotel.[6] Procaccianti Group, the hotel's current owners, deny any wrongdoing and call the boycott "misguided."[7]

The adjoining building known as the Veterans Memorial Auditorium (VMA), located between the Mason Building and Interstate 95, was originally part of the same complex, and was connected to the Temple by a small structure at ground level. While construction halted at the same time as the Temple building, it was completed in the 1950s.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Staff (2006-03-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "Renaissance Hotel, Providence". Marriott Hotels. Retrieved 11 Mar 2013.
  3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A4UGtM4hDQ, retrieved 2015-10-13 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "Hotel Worker Tells Story Behind Viral Resignation Video". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  5. ↑ "Providence hotel workers protest conditions". providencejournal.com. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  6. ↑ "Brown Students and Workers Unite to Convince the University to Boycott an Exploitative Hotel". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  7. ↑ "Unitarian group boycotts Renaissance Providence Hotel - Providence Business News". Providence Business News. Retrieved 2015-10-13.
  8. ↑ Barbarisi, Daniel (20 May 2007). "Temple digs - 80 years and $100 million later, the Masons' white elephant is transformed into a luxury hotel" (abstract). Providence Journal (Providence RI: The Providence Journal Co). p. D1. Retrieved 11 Mar 2013. |section= ignored (help)

External links

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