The Blackstone Parks Conservancy and Swan Point Cemetery are working together to restore the old trolley shelter on Blackstone Boulevard. The building, built in 1904, is on the Providence Preservation Society’s list of 10 most-endangered buildings.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

PROVIDENCE — On Blackstone Boulevard across from Swan Point Cemetery, a strange open-air building made of piled stones sits on the bucolic median, familiar to joggers and drivers but rarely understood or used.

That’s a sad state of affairs for a building that was once well-known and heavily used. Starting with its construction in 1904, the trolley shelter provided a safe haven for those visiting the cemetery and was considered an attractive building and community gathering site.

Since the trolley service ended in 1948 and the tracks were removed — allowing the Blackstone Boulevard jogging path in their place — the shelter has gradually fallen into disrepair, with its cedar roof falling apart and its boulder walls becoming increasingly unstable. Last spring, the Providence Preservation Society listed the shelter on its top 10 most-endangered buildings list.

Now, the Blackstone Parks Conservancy and the cemetery administration are beginning a $30,000 project to restore and preserve the shelter, in the hopes of making it safe and attractive enough to use for community events.

Tomorrow the groups will hold a groundbreaking ceremony to start renovations, which should take five to six weeks, according to conservancy board member and cemetery president Anthony Hollingshead.

The renovations will not dramatically change the appearance of the building, Hollingshead said, though the work will be extensive, due to the poor condition of the roof and the masonry.

“It’s not a particularly pleasant, well-maintained structure right now.”

The roof’s coming off completely, and it’s being redone with cedar shingles. And there’s a fair amount of masonry work that needs to be done. Decorative latticework trim will be restored as well.

The trolley shelter is on the National Register of Historic Places by virtue of being considered part of Swan Point Cemetery. The Preservation Society listed the building on its well-known endangered buildings list for the first time this year out of concern that it was in the early stages of a deterioration that would soon be irreversible, said the society’s Sara Emmenecker.

“The concern was that it had been neglected, and as you know, graffiti and vandalism are a growing concern in this city. And once it continues to go in this direction, it’s hard to bring buildings like this back –– especially if it’s not actively being used,” she said.

People around the city may not always know this building, Emmenecker said, but for those around Blackstone Boulevard or those who remember the trolley service, it has great meaning.

“We’ve gotten e-mails from people who are very nostalgic, who used to ride the trolleys or operate the trolleys. There’s a lot of memories there,” she said.

The $30,000 for the renovations is being fronted by the conservancy and by the cemetery, though the conservancy is seeking a grant from the Champlin Foundation to pay them back for the work. They are also in the midst of a fundraising drive.

dbarbari@projo.com