Beloved Providence arts org renovates historic rubber mill for new HQ

Blackstone-Millville Regional High School | Blackstone, MA

Providence, Rhode Island is putting historic mills back to work. Last year, after years of planning, WaterFire opened its new headquarters in a previously abandoned rubber mill. The building, which is now home to vocational classes, art exhibitions, and other community engaement, is a model for other ex-mill towns who are trying to use absandoned mill space to create jobs and energize their communities.

Produced by Haley Carroll, Alexis Cox, Emily Elston, Olivia Jacques, Erin McDonald and Patricia Anderson at Blackstone-Millville Regional High School in Blackstone, Massachusetts. Instruction provided by SRL Connected Educator Damien Gaudet. Station support provided by Rhode Island PBS and Victor Fernandez and Kristy Choi from PBS NewsHour.

See full series: Making it Work: Today’s Youth, Tomorrow’s Jobs.