Ongoing war in Gilded Age neighborhood
Ochre Court, built in 1890-1895 as the summer residence of Ogden Goelet (1851-1897), an American businessman, heir and yachtsman, is now Salve Regina’s central administration building. Concerts, lectures and other special functions are held in the ballrooms on the ground floor.
Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary, in GoLocal24.com
Look for fireworks at the Newport Zoning Board’s meetings Wednesday, Sept. 21, and Thursday, Sept. 22, both at 6 p.m., over Salve Regina University’s controversial plan (hated by some) to build two dorms to house a total of 400 more students, with parking lots to go with them. The battle, over land between Bellevue, Shepard, Victoria, Ruggles and Lawrence avenues, has been going on for years.
You can’t blame some of the neighbors for being very unhappy at the idea of a big institutional expansion in the midst of a celebrated Gilded Age neighborhood. But virtually all colleges and universities want to expand.
The meetings will be held in Newport City Hall in a second-floor room. This being Newport, perhaps there will be a couple of celebrities there.
Few land-use and building disputes are as animated as those in The City by the Sea.