Portsmouth Senior Center and proposed elderly housing now in hands of the voters

The former school now serves as the Portsmouth Multi-Purpose Senior Center, which is functioning with limited capacity because of the poor condition of the building. It would be costly for the town to restore.

 

The town’s goal for the site is to develop elderly affordable housing and create a new Senior Center facility there, a project that, if feasible, could include possible redevelopment of the original Anne Hutchinson Schoolhouse that dates back to the 1920s. The current building consists of the original schoolhouse and a larger addition that was built in 1951.

The town has been in discussions with Church Community Housing Corp. to undertake the project at no financial cost to the town, other than providing the site to the corporation under a long-term lease agreement.

Because the agreement would be for more than 10 years and the property is larger than two acres, voters must approve a lease arrangement under the Portsmouth Home Rule Charter. The size of the property is 5.27 acres.

Here is what you need to know about Question 2 on the Nov. 2 ballot: 

Who is on the Senior Center Advisory Group that helped develop the plan?

Church Community Housing, a nonprofit organization based in Newport and formed in 1969, has been working with a Senior Center Advisory Group that was appointed by the town in March.

The members include: Helen Mathieu, chairwoman of the Senior Center board of directors; Senior Center Director Cynthia Koniecki; Town Council President Kevin Aguiar; Town Council Vice President Linda Ujifusa; Public Works Director Brian Woodhead; Town Planner Gary Crosby; and town residents Donald (Bruce) Perry, Claire Eklund, and Ellen Downing.

What is the Master Plan for the project?

The advisory group and Church Community Housing created the plan while working with Union Studio of Providence, an architectural firm that completed a conceptual design of the building, a layout of the apartments and a site plan.

On the first floor of the new building would be the proposed senior center in front. The building would have a total of 54 apartments, mostly on the second and third floors. The majority of the apartments would be one-bedroom units, but 25% of them would have two-bedrooms. All the apartments would be for people age 55 and older.

The senior center now is located in the 1951 addition to the Anne Hutchinson School. Because of the current Fire Code, the center's staff and members cannot be in the historic school portion of the building.

Updated explainer: Portsmouth Question 2 on ballot is correct, despite omission on explanation sheet

Under the Master Plan, the new building would be constructed first. When it is completed, the senior center would move out of the current building and over to the new building. That means senior center doors would be open the whole time, even during construction of the new building.

Initially, it was explored whether the current senior center could remain and apartments be added onto the back. However, the seniors would have had to move out during construction and renovation, which was not a popular idea.

Under the current proposal, the 1951 addition would be demolished after the senior center is in its new space. The fitness center, thrift shop, game room, library, kitchen and offices in the current senior center all would be in the new senior center, which would be slightly larger than the current space. The architect met with the senior center director several times during the planning process.

Architectural and engineering studies showed it would be difficult to keep the addition that was built on a concrete slab that is now wavy. The cinder block walls of the addition are pulling apart and it is questionable whether it could be saved.

The good news is the original 1920s schoolhouse can be saved. That is where four to six market-rate condominiums would be built. It is hoped the sale proceeds from these condos would pay the cost of renovating the historic schoolhouse and converting it to housing.

 Church Housing Corporation This rendering from Community Church Housing Corporation shows the proposed Portsmouth Senior Center and affordable housing complex on the Bristol Ferry Road property.

Architects believe it would be too costly to convert the old brick schoolhouse structure to affordable housing. If it turns out the condo construction costs would exceed the sales revenues, Church Community would return the historic schoolhouse to the town. If the condo revenues amount to more than the renovation costs, those revenues would help finance the affordable housing units.

The Master Plan was presented to the community in a townwide in-person and Zoom meeting that took place at Portsmouth High School on Sept. 9.

What about the ball field?

There is currently a Portsmouth Little League ball field on the Bristol Ferry Road site. People did not want to lose the field and the town was planning to explore where it could build a new one. Under the new Master Plan, however, the town will relocate and build a new ball field on the site, and it will remain part of the new development.

Also on the ballot: Portsmouth voters will decide on school upgrades for town's 2,300 students

That is seen as a benefit for the complex because planners believe it will be good to have elderly and children there. There will be no children living at the apartments, but having them come for practice and games will enliven the complex.

Tenants will be able to see the kids from their windows and they can come down and watch games from the bleachers.

Will Portsmouth residents have first crack at the new apartments?

This is a question Church Community Housing gets often when it builds housing for the elderly: Who’s going to live there?

The short answer is the organization cannot discriminate against anyone. It cannot say the units are only for Portsmouth residents. However, people who live in Church Community developments — like Anthony House in Portsmouth, West House in Middletown, or Mumford House in Newport — almost always have a strong connection to the area, said Christian Belden, the executive director of Community Church Housing. 

What you need to know: Get ready for the Portsmouth special referendum: How to vote, polling places and more

Besides current residents, they could be people who want to live close to their kids, people returning to the town where they grew up or previously lived in, or people who have worked in the town.

“Church Community has been around for 52 years,” Belden said. “What we’ve seen without exception is that people have to have a connection to the community in order to want to live there. The idea that people from South Providence or Central Falls or wherever else folks say will be moving into their community, it just doesn’t happen. People don't want to live in places they don’t have a connection to, no matter how nice it is.”

What’s next for the project if it passes?

If the voters approve the project, details of the Master Plan would be finalized and it would be presented to the Town Council. If the council approves the plan, the town would enter a long-term lease of the land at the corner of Bristol Ferry and Brownell roads.

It will be up to the Town Council to decide the length of the lease if the voters approve the ballot question, but normally these leases are for 99 years, Belden said.

“Usually, it’s for 99 years, but that hasn’t been decided by the Town Council yet,” said Town Administrator Rich Rainer. “The council can’t continue evaluating the proposal without a yes vote on the referendum.”

Church Community will have to persuade investors to put money into the project, and the investors will want assurances the housing will be there long-term. Investors would purchase tax credits.

In order for the Internal Revenue Service to see it as a legitimate investment, there has to be long-term control of the land with a ground lease, Belden said. Once Church Community has a lease, it will begin applying for grants and seeking funding from Rhode Island Housing, State Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, and  private organizations.

What happens if the ballot question does not pass?

The whole property, all the proposed apartments and market-rate condos, would not be put on the property tax rolls if Question 2 is rejected. Right now, the property is not on the tax rolls because the town owns it. The senior center leases the space for $1 a year from the town.  

The town would remain on the hook for all the needed upgrades and maintenance of the property should the measure fail. 

The town had Jacobs Engineering Group, an international technical professional services firm with offices in Providence and Portsmouth, examine the building in 2018, and the firm released its study in January 2019. Jacobs found the combined five-year need of the building to be $2.15 million to bring the building within code.

The town had CGA Project Management, LLC, a New England firm with offices in Fall River, Massachusetts, study the building this year for an updated cost assessment. That detailed study, which included items such as putting in a new electrical system and a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, determined project costs would be around $5.78 million.

Previously: Friends of the Portsmouth Senior center asking town to help keep facility open

Both the Jacobs and CGA studies can be viewed on the town of Portsmouth website.    

“We’ve had two hard looks at the building,” Rainer said. “The bottom line is, just to keep the building functional and within code would cost millions of dollars. That is a decision the council would have to make.”

Even if an investment of those millions were made, it would not make the building look nice, and the interior is showing wear and tear, Rainer noted.

“People deserve better,” he said. “I can’t speak for the council, but I can’t imagine the council would look lightly at spending that much money to renovate the building just to keep it looking the same way that it does now.”

“If the referendum doesn’t pass, there is going to have to be a long discussion about the long-term plan for that property,” Rainer said. “I don’t have a crystal ball on which way the council would want to go.”

He did point out there are a lot of competing interests in town for very limited town dollars for a series of proposed projects.

“We have a responsibility to all the residents of Portsmouth,” Rainer said. “In this era of tight spending, or lack thereof, the council is going to want to get the biggest bang for their bucks, I would imagine.”

 

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