Sadly, this story lacks context. More than ten years ago, RIOC publicly noted that, because it saw no reasonable future use for the Smallpox Hospital ruins and had already spent hundreds of thousands keeping it standing, it would invest nothing more than the minimum required for safety reasons. That's not a secret and never was.
Thereafter, an effort was made to get the Four Freedoms Conservancy to take it over, but it didn't believe it was worth investing in for any purpose.
Then came Martin and Friends of the Ruins, which wanted to save the crumbling structure. RIOC, under Susan Rosenthal, gave a green light but was clear that RIOC's decision not to invest was firm. Over a decade, Martin's group raised a measly $1.2 million, not anywhere near enough to bring the ruins back to any sort of useful life. Now, he's trying to get RIOC back in the game, hoping there's a short memory at the corporation.
Although common sense suggests that tearing the ruins down and replacing it with something useful is the way to go, its preservation declarations make that impossible. Many argue that the site is worth preserving because of its history, especially James Renwick Jr.'s architecture. Given that no one will ever get permission for demolition, keeping the ruins stable and safe is the best position for RIOC. Investing more in some scheme for public use with all the expenses falling on the backs of Roosevelt Islanders is especially selfish.
RIOC should not spend one extra dime on it or waste the board's time reviewing what we've known for a decade.
If Friends of the Ruins can guarantee the millions needed for rehabilitation plus annual maintenance funding, they ought to give up and leave the local ruins to local residents, none of which are, by the way, on their board.
Your timeline is accurate and much of it already sits in the record the article draws on. The real question is what that decade-old position looks like when it runs alongside current activity.
RIOC issued an RFP for grant writing services in December 2024 and has kept related contract work active into this year. At the same time, requests for the actual scope of projects under consideration have produced only the usual holding answer that the matter is still under review. A nonprofit has already put serious private money and technical work on the table for a landmarked site. When that private effort sits next to undisclosed grant capacity at the corporation, the old "we decided years ago" stance no longer fully explains what is happening now.
If the policy remains that RIOC will put in nothing further and the site stays stabilized ruins, that can be stated clearly with current numbers. It has not been.
On the community side, RIRA has lost much of its former reach. ArchRI has shown what technically grounded, preservation-focused work can produce on the steam plant. Their approach would be a natural extension to this site if it broadens. Without stronger resident-side continuity, the corporation retains wide room to manage both the record and the pace.
A ribbon cutting on a Garden Among Ruins memorial would give the current president and CEO a better photo opportunity than previous dog park one. A new generation on the island has little memory of how RIOC came to control this land in the first place.
Sadly, this story lacks context. More than ten years ago, RIOC publicly noted that, because it saw no reasonable future use for the Smallpox Hospital ruins and had already spent hundreds of thousands keeping it standing, it would invest nothing more than the minimum required for safety reasons. That's not a secret and never was.
Thereafter, an effort was made to get the Four Freedoms Conservancy to take it over, but it didn't believe it was worth investing in for any purpose.
Then came Martin and Friends of the Ruins, which wanted to save the crumbling structure. RIOC, under Susan Rosenthal, gave a green light but was clear that RIOC's decision not to invest was firm. Over a decade, Martin's group raised a measly $1.2 million, not anywhere near enough to bring the ruins back to any sort of useful life. Now, he's trying to get RIOC back in the game, hoping there's a short memory at the corporation.
Although common sense suggests that tearing the ruins down and replacing it with something useful is the way to go, its preservation declarations make that impossible. Many argue that the site is worth preserving because of its history, especially James Renwick Jr.'s architecture. Given that no one will ever get permission for demolition, keeping the ruins stable and safe is the best position for RIOC. Investing more in some scheme for public use with all the expenses falling on the backs of Roosevelt Islanders is especially selfish.
RIOC should not spend one extra dime on it or waste the board's time reviewing what we've known for a decade.
If Friends of the Ruins can guarantee the millions needed for rehabilitation plus annual maintenance funding, they ought to give up and leave the local ruins to local residents, none of which are, by the way, on their board.
Your timeline is accurate and much of it already sits in the record the article draws on. The real question is what that decade-old position looks like when it runs alongside current activity.
RIOC issued an RFP for grant writing services in December 2024 and has kept related contract work active into this year. At the same time, requests for the actual scope of projects under consideration have produced only the usual holding answer that the matter is still under review. A nonprofit has already put serious private money and technical work on the table for a landmarked site. When that private effort sits next to undisclosed grant capacity at the corporation, the old "we decided years ago" stance no longer fully explains what is happening now.
If the policy remains that RIOC will put in nothing further and the site stays stabilized ruins, that can be stated clearly with current numbers. It has not been.
On the community side, RIRA has lost much of its former reach. ArchRI has shown what technically grounded, preservation-focused work can produce on the steam plant. Their approach would be a natural extension to this site if it broadens. Without stronger resident-side continuity, the corporation retains wide room to manage both the record and the pace.
A ribbon cutting on a Garden Among Ruins memorial would give the current president and CEO a better photo opportunity than previous dog park one. A new generation on the island has little memory of how RIOC came to control this land in the first place.