The long vacant Wickenden Street Bath House will become part of the Vartan Gregorian School Library.

05:59 PM EDT on Friday, April 15, 2005

BY LINDA BORG
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Former City Councilman Bob Clarkin grew up in one of Fox Point's many cold-water flats and he remembers when a hot shower at the Wickenden Street Bath House was a luxury even a 10-year-old could afford.

For 10 cents, a young boy could get a towel, a bar of soap and a shower at the Bath House, which now sits next to the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School.

But the once-popular bath house, in the neighborhood in which Clarkin still lives, fell into disrepair during the 1960s and 70s. Today, the wooden rafters are rotting, the gutters sprout bird nests and a small door has been punched out of the foundation of the mostly brick building.

Built in the 1920s, the bath house was listed on the Providence Preservation Society's list of most endangered buildings for three years in a row. City officials said it is probably the last bath house in the city.

Yesterday, Mayor David N. Cicilline announced plans to transform the eyesore into a library for students at the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School. The 2,500-square-foot building, at 455 Wickenden St., has been abandoned for 25 years.

The $1-million renovation will be paid for with a bond from the Providence Public Building Authority. Construction is expected to begin this fall.

Before the announcement, Cicilline fielded questions from a dozen students and threw out a few questions of his own.

"What's my job?" he asked them.

"To save the world!" one child yelled.

"Who is my boss?" the mayor said.

"The principal!" another child.

"No," Cicilline said. "You guys are my boss."

The former bath house, which sits five feet from the school, will allow for the expansion of the school library, which is clean and bright but limited in size. The first floor will house computers and a professional development space for teachers. The second floor will have a conference room that residents will be able to use.

Cicilline said that the bath house conversion will free up two badly needed classrooms in the school building.

"This will become an asset to the neigborhood," he said, "an asset to the school and an asset to historic preservation."

Councilman David A. Segal said the bath house stands at the most vibrant corner of the neighborhood. Last summer, he said, the city made an effort to make Wickenden more pedestrian-friendly.

"Now," he said, "we are reclaiming the bath house."

Former state Sen. John Roney gave the mayor a resolution asking that the new library be named after Mary Brennan, the former principal of Vartan Gregorian and one of those responsible for the school's substantial progress.