NORTH SMITHFIELD – Construction of upgrades to the second floor of the Memorial Town Building on Greene Street has begun.
The North Smithfield Heritage Association took charge of the building back in 2020, leasing the building from the town of North Smithfield for $1 per year, and has been on a mission since to renovate the space.
“We want to restore the hall,” said Heritage Association President Rich Keene. For the past month, the Department of Public Works has been removing walls and exposing any dark woodwork that had been hidden for decades.
“Once it’s back and renovated we’ll probably display some artifacts up there,” said Keene.
Resident and documentary filmmaker Christian de Rezendes says he was there at the beginning of demolition to film some of the work for his second season of “Slatersville: America’s Mill Village.”
According to de Rezendes, the second floor of the building built in 1921 by by mill owner Henry Plimpton Kendall as a memorial for those who served in World War I was used for council meetings, inaugurations, recitals, and other events in town, but he can’t seem to find any evidence of that through photos. “I can’t find any pictures of events that took place,” he said.
When it comes to finishing up the rest of his season, said de Rezendes, there are a couple more interviews he has lined up, but most of the filming has been completed.
“There’s little things that we have to pick up along the way,” he said.
There will be total of five episodes in the second season of the documentary season, and all will be more than an hour long.
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