The City of Newport and Preserve Rhode Island (Preserve RI) announced today that the restoration of Miantonomi Park’s stone walls has been completed.
The project began last September when a 250-foot stretch of wall was repaired. The second phase, begun in June, finalizes the north entry point to the park and repairs approximately 336 feet of wall along Girard Avenue. Preserve RI, acting as project lead for the Scenic Aquidneck Coalition, has been working with the City of Newport on the repairs.
Located in Newport’s densely populated North End, Miantonomi Park serves as an important green space for the community. The City of Newport owns the park with a conservation easement held by the Aquidneck Land Trust. A key resource in understanding the priorities of the North End neighborhood was The North End Equitable Development Strategy (NEEDS), created by Smart Growth America and the North End Local Advocacy Group. This plan specifically highlights high-quality and publicly accessible open, green, and civic spaces as a key tool for equitable development. One of the challenges cited in NEEDS was that Miantonomi Park—the primary public park in the North End—is not easy for all residents to access. In conjunction with other efforts by the Aquidneck Land Trust and the City of Newport, this wall reconstruction directly addresses this concern by restoring visible markers of this green space.
Land for Miantonomi Park was acquired by the City of Newport in 1921 and the park was dedicated as a memorial to World War I in 1929. From its inception, a perimeter stone wall was commissioned, designed to echo the iconic stone walls of Aquidneck Island. The construction method of the Miantonomi Park wall is unusual – whereas earlier 18th and 19th century stone walls are dry laid, the Miantonomi wall was built to look as if it is dry laid, but actually has a cement core. The stone restoration project used this same early 20th century building technique for the recent repair work.
“Stone walls on Aquidneck Island help create its special character and unique sense of place,” said Valerie Talmage, Executive Director, Preserve RI. “Now the wall along Girard Avenue at Miantonomi Park stands again to mark this special place, adding to the scenic beauty and historical setting of the North End. On behalf of the Scenic Aquidneck Coalition, we’re all delighted to take this step to enhance an historic site, make a spot more scenic, and contribute to the vitality of the area.”
The van Beuren Charitable Foundation and the Scenic Aquidneck Coalition, a collaboration between Preserve RI, the Preservation Society of Newport County, and Aquidneck Land Trust, generously provided funding for this project. The City of Newport contributed time and materials. Ramos Masonry LLC completed the stone wall work.
Preserve RI provided the following photos of the project;
The park was my go to play area from 1951 to 1957. A neighbor, Mr. Souza, was the maintenance man for the park. I moved away in ‘57 and happy to see they are keeping the park as ship shape as Mr. Souza did.