Former Senior-Junior High Makes National List Of Historic Places

WOONSOCKET, RI—It's been closed for years, but now the former Woonsocket Middle School on Park Place seems to have a future. Recently, the mayor's office said the abandoned building has been accepted on the National Register for Historic Places.

The school also has been tagged as one of the most haunted places in Rhode Island and was the subject of a popular cult movie, My Abandoned Hometown Middle School. Some years after it closed, two former students went back into the site and filmed the empty halls.

But the National Register designation means a redeveloper can now apply for tax credits.

According to the mayor's office, the City went out to bid for help landing the spot on the National Register.

"In April 2016, the City of Woonsocket solicited proposals from qualified firms for the development of an application to the National Park Service for the placement of the former Woonsocket Senior-Junior High School at 357 Park Place," the mayor's office said. "After consultation with the City Council, the City awarded the contract to the Public Archaeology Laboratory of Pawtucket, Rhode Island for $9271.00 for the development of such a plan."

"It was pointed out that it was necessary to begin this process in earnest at this early date, even though proposals were still being solicited for the actual redevelopment of the facility, as the award of National Register status was necessary for any serious redeveloper to secure National Historic Tax Credits for the redevelopment project," the mayor's office said.

The project can now move forward, Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt said.