Pardon Gray Education Center

           An exciting project has begun this year – one that we hope will benefit the Town’s people and the Land Trust for years to come.

Near the first of the year, the TLT was approached by the “RISD/Brown Design/Build Studio”, a cooperative project between RISD and Brown University to design and build a structure completely independent of traditional sources of energy. Normally, a building derived from this cooperation would be entered into a competition between various colleges and universities from throughout the country. This year, however, they chose to offer the Tiverton Land Trust a structure that would sit on Pardon Gray Preserve and serve as an educational facility for the TLT and the Preserve. It will be designed, engineered and erected by students – all with TLT input and RISD/Brown backing. It will be small, unobtrusive, “lie light on the land” (no foundation) and be completely self-sufficient. Planned to be placed near the existing kiosk, the TLT will use it to present various talks and demonstrations throughout the year for both students and adults and as an office facility for the Trust.

The process is a long one with an initial design still in the revisionary stage. As with any building, various permits are required which are currently being applied for, including approval from the Tiverton Planning and Zoning Boards and RIDEM. Once approval is achieved, fund raising will begin with the bulk of the burden belonging to the two universities. Fall will see the building of the structure at RISD and a culmination of the effort in the spring of 2009 will be its transportation and assembly on the site.

The TLT is truly excited to be an active participant in a national effort to save energy while protecting land and the environment. As a grateful beneficiary of this unique partnership between the Land Trust and two of the most respected educational institutes in the country, we will certainly benefit from national recognition and having the physical facility which will enable us to extend land and environmental education to more and more citizens of Tiverton.

The above graphics are a photo (top) of the view of the site from the Main Rd, looking north. The bottom graphic is that same photo with the Pardon Gray Education Center building added in.

To see a copy of the design review board presentation, please download it here. (.pdf)