Bianca Sperduti, a Student Community Partner, sings "Legacy" by Nichole Nordeman during the dedication Thursday of the new Roosevelt Benton Youth Assessment Center.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

CRANSTON — Cliff Montiero, president of the Providence chapter of the NAACP, summed it up best on Thursday afternoon: It’s a shame that it took the state so long to name a building after “a man of color.”

A few minutes later, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch commended Montiero for his bold statement and said there was no building more fittingly named than the one dedicated to the late Roosevelt Benton, a black man and longtime deputy superintendent of the state Training School for troubled boys.

Lynch joined more than 100 dignitaries, family members, friends and staff at the state Department of Children, Youth and Families who gathered in the newly opened Roosevelt Benton Youth Assessment Center to pay tribute to the man and his tireless work with at-risk youth.

Among those in attendance were Sen. Harold Metts, Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, Providence City Councilman John Lombardi, Kenneth Walker, chairman of the state Parole Board, and Marvin Barnes, the former Providence College All-American and NBA forward from South Providence.

The dedication ceremony was held in the building’s C-Mod on the grounds of the state prison complex.

Lynch pointed out that the work of an assessment center was a perfect match for Benton. It’s where a boy in trouble is assessed, made stronger and, hopefully, returns to the community a better person.

“I am cheering you on,” said Lynch, the state’s top prosecutor as he looked at several young men in blue training-school garb.

Benton, known to his friends and colleagues as “Rosie,” or “Bells,” was a big man with empathy for those in trouble or need. The various speakers who marched to the lectern called him a role model and a man of integrity. He was well-known for his bear hugs, baritone voice and sense of fairness.

Fung, the Cranston mayor, a young prosecutor in the ’90s, remembered Benton asking him several times for a “favor” in dealing with a juvenile who needed a break. He said that the favor was not much of a risk because Benton’s judgment was usually dead on.

“He meant a lot to a lot of different people,” Fung said. “He knew and cared about each and every one of these youths.”

Metts, the state senator, talked about playing basketball with Benton in South Providence and hitting the books with him to make sure that they made something out of themselves. Back in those days, the mid-’60s, Metts said that young black men from South Providence had two career choices — a local factory or the military.

Metts and Benton decided to further their education and get more.

In January 2005, Benton, who was suffering from cancer, died.

“He was always trying to help somebody,” Metts said. “Today is a celebration of a life that was well-lived.”

bmalinow@projo.com