The restoration of Rhode Island Hall during 2008 and 2009 provided an opportunity for more detailed study of a building that had declined in importance in recent years. Originally founded as the fourth building on Brown University’s campus and its first dedicated to the sciences, Rhode Island Hall became an aging building holding miscellaneous services that were hampered by the layout of the building. The architectural accumulations inside Rhode Island Hall resulted from numerous renovations, and though these remnants of earlier stages of the building created a confusing system of doorways and hallways inside the building, such aggregations proved especially interesting to an archaeological study. This state of Rhode Island Hall first inspired one archaeological study of Rhode Island Hall (Nuding 2008), and the subsequent renovation led to further documentation of the building (Deslatte 2008; Nuding 2009; and the current study). The fact that Rhode Island Hall would later house the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World certainly explains such a major interest in the building.
These studies should not end here, however. Historic buildings will always be in need of renovation as functions change and as environmental codes are updated. Though architects and historic preservationists do their part to preserve the history of these buildings, further analysis and documentation is always possible. At Brown University, the Building Brown project will be ongoing, and according to President Ruth Simmons “we should wherever possible and prudent, consider re-use and renovation as an alternative near-term solution to our unfunded facilities needs” (Simmons 2009). Rhode Island Hall is only the beginning in a long sequence of renovations that will soon take place on campus, including that of Faunce House. Though the Joukowsky Institute will by that time already be settling into its new home in Rhode Island Hall, students in archaeology, as well as related fields, should maintain the same effort that was put into documenting Rhode Island Hall. These buildings all have remarkable histories, recorded and preserved thanks to the hard work of students, faculty, alumnae, and, of course, the architects and construction workers. All of these people have helped to build Brown, and their stories will be forever remembered in the walls of Rhode Island Hall.
Figure 6.01: Diagram showing the years of the major additions to Rhode Island Hall
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