The police and fire station in La Salle Square, which was on the Providence Preservation Society’s Most Endangered Properties List, was knocked down last year after an emergency demolition permit was issued.

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The Providence Journal / STEVE SZYDLOWSKI

PROVIDENCE — In a year when 4 of the 11 buildings on the Providence Preservation Society’s well-known 2007 Most Endangered Properties List have been demolished or are likely to come down, it was tough for the speakers to be entirely cheery at the preservation group’s 50th annual meeting and awards presentation last night.

Hanging over the evening were the recent start of demolition Monday at the Providence Fruit and Produce Warehouse Co. building, and a judge’s decision Wednesday to reopen the case of the half-destroyed Grove Street School to question the city’s building official as to why he did not call for emergency demolition of that building. Earlier in the year, the police and fire station in La Salle Square was knocked down using an emergency demolition permit, and demolition was approved for the former Louttit Laundry building on Cranston Street.

Then yesterday, Governor Carcieri announced that he wanted to trim down the state’s historic tax-credit redevelopment program, capping it at $20 million in credits statewide this year, $40 million in subsequent years, and cut the entire program by 2017.

But members did their best to forget all that last night, applauding strong membership, record-setting finances and preservation awards for several notable projects completed in 2007, including what they called one of the greatest preservation projects nationally: the reuse of the Masonic Temple.

And there was a ray of hope that the spate of recent demolitions may be stemmed somewhat. Mayor David N. Cicilline informed the hundreds in attendance at the Columbus Theater that he had issued an executive order creating a working group to review the city’s demolition policies.

Cicilline’s proposals are intended to prevent developers from forcing “demolition by neglect,” the practice of allowing a property to deteriorate so that emergency demolition is necessary. Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Jerome F. Williams accused Carpionato Properties Inc. of attempting exactly that at the Fruit and Produce Warehouse building.

Cicilline announced two ordinances that he said could prevent situations like that at the produce warehouse from happening again.

One would empower the city to go onto a deteriorating, neglected property, do necessary repairs and pay for it by putting a lien on the property.

“It would prevent someone from allowing their property to deteriorate, and then profiting from that demolition,” Cicilline said.

Another would create a waiting period between the time an emergency demolition permit is issued, and when it is delivered to the property owner — perhaps 7 to 14 days, Cicilline said.

It could “give the property owner and other interested parties the chance to see if there are other alternatives,” Cicilline said.

Cicilline also said that he has told city inspectors not to issue demolition permits for any historic structures until the working group has made its recommendations, planned for 90 days from Jan. 16.

And he said that he would instruct city officials to identify other historic buildings that may be in danger of falling into disrepair in the near future.

Outgoing PPS President Mark Van Noppen lamented the loss of the buildings, and in particular the hurried manner in which the Fruit and Produce Warehouse building’s demolition occurred.

“I think this is a lose-lose for everybody, including the developer, who damaged his reputation,” he said.

He also warned that the state should not do away with the historic tax-credit program, which he said has been responsible for both preservation and economic growth.

“This is maybe the most important economic development program that Rhode Island has had in some time,” Van Noppen said.

The preservation society also gave out nine awards for restoration and rehabilitation of historic properties. The award winners were: AS220 at the Dreyfus on Washington Street; a rehabilitated home at 225 Carpenter St.; the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Potters Street; the Church of the Blessed Sacrament on Academy Avenue; Eno Fine Wines on Westminster Street; Loie Fuller Restaurant on Westminster Street; the three redeveloped homes of the Parkis/North Elmwood Homeowner’s Group; The Plant on Valley Street; and a special award in preservation for the creation of the Renaissance Providence Hotel at the Masonic Temple.

The evening featured an address by Boston architect David Dixon, and the election of Oliver H.L. Bennett as PPS president for the next two years.

Former PPS Director Jack Gold, who recently departed as head of the PPS to take a job at a similar preservation organization in San Francisco, also spoke last night. Gold has been replaced on an interim basis by Vicki Veh. Van Noppen said that the organization hopes to have a permanent director by early summer.

dbarbari@projo.com