Saccoccio & Associates Earns Rhody Award for Historic Preservation

Saccoccio & Associates has earned a 2016 Rhody Award for Historic Preservation for its work on the Cowing and Heaton Mill in Providence.

Presented by Preserve Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, the annual awards “celebrate the people and projects that make our state a place where we all want to live and work.”

Saccoccio & Associates earned the Preservation Project Award, one of 11 Rhody Awards presented.

Working with DiPrete Engineering in Cranston, Steere Engineering in Warwick, Engineering Design Services in North Smithfield and General Contractor Behan Bros. of Middletown, Saccoccio & Associates converted the abandoned mill into 20 micro style loft units for veteran_ housing.
The project, named Veterans for Tomorrow, was created by the Blackstone Valley Development Corporation (BVDC), the development arm of the Arc of Blackstone Valley. The BVDC utilized eight funding sources, including federal, state and city programs to reclaim the historic mill and the surrounding area. The BVDC is a leading developer of housing for adults with disabilities, veterans and the elderly in Rhode Island and manages a portfolio of over 260 units.

The Heaton & Cowing Mill is the oldest surviving building in the Geneva Mills complex. Built in 1832, the three-story, timber frame, rubble stone mill was powered by the West River and produced boot laces and cotton cloth. The building remained as industrial use until around 2000. When the Arc of Blackstone Valley began searching for a location for a veterans’ housing community, Heaton & Cowing fit the bill.

Located at 1115 Douglas Avenue near the North Providence line, the complex includes common areas, a community space to be used for education and job training and a landscaped outdoor area along the West River.