After 11 years since the closure of the Donald Price Correctional Facility, the city’s Planning Commission approved preliminary plans on Oct. 4 for the construction of a 210,000 square foot warehouse on the 16.84 acre property. The site, located on Goddard Drive, was sold in 2020 to applicant Richard Baccari II who paid roughly $6.3 million for the property and came before the commission for master plan approval in June.

“It’s a property that’s well known to the public and the commission and is visible from Route 95,” said Robert Murray, Baccari’s lawyer last Tuesday.

The prison was built in 1929 and opened in 1932 to house men and youthful offenders. The building closed due to agency budget cuts and a Rhode Island Historic Resources Archive Report revealed that the building could not be used due to code deficiencies.

Murray said the proposed project could expand the commercial tax base and increase jobs within the community. The facility was previously owned by the state and exempt from taxes. When the state sold the property, the area entered the tax base with estimated tax revenue of $200,000; Murray expects the warehouse to help generate greater tax revenue in the future. A prospective tenant was not disclosed.

Baccari’s proposed plan calls for removing the location’s current road access to the building and reconstructing the northern and southern site entrances. In addition to the new warehouse, the plan proposes 295 parking spaces for employees. The development will also include landscaping (canopy and flowering trees), walkways, lighting and other amenities.

Murray said the project does not have an end user at the moment but added that there has been interest in the building. He said the applicant would not knock down the building and start the new one until knowing who the end user is.

Murray noted that there was an inquiry about the building potentially having a historical significance. The Rhode Island and Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission staff reviewed the archaeological sensitivity of the Goddard Drive property and found that the property had “low sensitivity for archaeological resources” according to a May 25 letter from Jeffrey Emidy from the commission; the staff did not recommend a survey to be conducted prior to the lot’s development.

The commission did receive a letter from Cornelis de Boer who, two years ago, prepared a Rhode Island Historic Resources Archive Report on the Donald Price Correctional Facility prior to the property being put up for sale.

“I think it would be most unfortunate to destroy this handsome and well-built structure without serious consideration of adaptive re-use and a full understanding of the environmental impact of its potential destruction. The current plans for development of the site lack imagination and lack an expressed interest in preservation and ‘going green’” wrote de Boer.

Commissioner Steve Frias asked if the applicant looked into the possible reuse of the building, which Murray said was theoretically possible. Frias also inquired if decorative architectural items – such as the state seal and limestone – could be salvaged if the Historical Society or Historical Preservation Commission wanted them. Murray didn’t think the request would be an issue.

The Planning staff did include recommended conditions of approval on the application. They required that prior to the issuance of any certificate of occupancy, the applicant would repave Goddard Drive curb to curb along the portion where the property had frontage. Additionally, the water and sewer lines should be capped when the prison is demolished and the Stormwater Management System Operation and Maintenance Plan should be recorded in the Land Evidence.