Graduate student Celia Riechel works on a garden in front of the Urban Environmental Lab.

The Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman

PROVIDENCE — A cluster of Brown University buildings, a 1770 South Main Street house built by a sea captain who helped burn the HMS Gaspee and the perennially endangered Grove Street School headline the Providence Preservation Society’s newest list of the city’s 10 Most Endangered Properties.

Brown’s buildings, houses at 127 and 129 Angell St. and the Urban Environmental Laboratory, are to be demolished to make room for Brown’s Mind, Brain and Behavior Building. Brown is trying to move the buildings, but has been unsuccessful.

“Through this listing, PPS hopes to help Brown find appropriate relocation solutions for the buildings, and also communicate to the university that the community objects to continually sacrificing historic fabric for institutional growth,” said Oliver H.L. Bennett, president of the preservation society.

The top 10 list is one of the preservation society’s signature efforts and it has helped bring attention to many city buildings in danger of demolition. But it has also had to bear witness when the buildings it spotlighted were subsequently knocked down. Four of the buildings on the 2007 list were either destroyed or were approved for demolition.

The list has had its successes as well, including the famously restored Masonic Temple and Nathan Bishop Middle School, listed in 2007 and scheduled for rehabilitation that same year. Yesterday, the society chose Nathan Bishop to announce its 2008 list. Mayor David N. Cicilline was on hand to trumpet the importance of historic preservation to the character of Providence.

“This is very important to the past of our city and to the future of Providence. It’s one of the reasons people live in our city; it’s one of the reasons people want to visit Providence; it’s one of the reasons that the vitality of this city continues to grow,” Cicilline said.

Newly listed this year is the home of Capt. Joseph Tillinghast, who commanded one of the boats involved in the burning of the HMS Gaspee in 1772. The house, built in 1770, was recently used for office space, but is vacant and has fallen into disrepair. A renovation was under consideration earlier this year, but with the effective end of the state’s historic tax credit program, the owner might not be able to proceed with renovation.

Other new additions to the list include the fieldstone trolley shelter on Blackstone Boulevard, the former Department of Transportation headquarters on Arline Street in Smith Hill and the Teste Block Building downtown.

But half the buildings on this year’s list have been named before, highlighting the difficulty in redeveloping historic buildings in a crowded city.

“Unfortunately, many historic buildings in Providence remain threatened by factors such as neglect, insufficient funds, public policy and inappropriate development,” Bennett said.

Returning for the second straight year are the Cathedral of St. John on North Main Street and Asa Messer Elementary School in the West End. The Earl P. Mason carriage house makes a third appearance.

Also back on the list — for the fourth time — is the half-demolished Grove Street School, which is in limbo after a Superior Court judge ordered it knocked down last month. The city appealed to the Supreme Court and the case is in mediation as the city looks to find a buyer to rehabilitate the school. If no buyer is found, it is likely to be destroyed.

“The Grove Street School has become the poster child for historic preservation,” Bennett said. “It is very possible that if a buyer is not found by the deadline of June 4, 2008, the building will be demolished altogether.”

The Castle Theater makes a dubious return to the list. The Chalkstone Avenue movie theater, built in 1925, was on the group’s list in 1999, helping to raise awareness of its poor condition. The theater was reopened in 2002 after extensive renovation. But it has since closed again.

“Unfortunately, the building has again fallen into disrepair. Following its $750,000 refurbishment, the owners were unable to compete with larger, first-run movie chains and it suffered financial loss.”

One of the newly listed buildings, the 1905 fieldstone trolley shelter, is inspiring hope already that it can be saved, despite its crumbling appearance.

The owners of the adjacent Swan Point Cemetery have committed to paying for some of the roughly $30,000 cost of renovation and the city has recently approved allowing the Blackstone Parks Conservancy to become involved in the restoration efforts.

dbarbari@projo.com