Rhode Island State House

The building under construction (1898)

The current Rhode Island State House is Rhode Island's seventh state house and the second in Providence after the Old State House. The structure was designed by McKim, Mead & White, a prominent firm from New York. The building was constructed from 1891 to 1901.[1] The structure underwent a major renovation in the late 1990s.[2]

A private organization, the State House Restoration Society, raises funds and advocates for the landmark building.[1]

The Rhode Island State House is constructed of 327,000 cubic feet (9,300 m³) of white Georgia marble, 15 million bricks, and 1,309 short tons (1,169 long tons) of iron floor beams.[3] The dome is "the fourth largest self-supported marble dome in the world".[3][4]

The chamber of the Rhode Island Senate is located in the east wing of the building, and the chamber of the Rhode Island House of Representatives is located in the west wing. Other notable rooms include the rotunda (beneath the dome), the State Library (north end), and the State Room (south end). The State Room is an entrance area for the office of the governor and contains a full-scale portrait of George Washington by Rhode Island native Gilbert Stuart. This room is also where the governor has press conferences and bill signings at the State House.

The State House was one of the first public buildings to use electricity. It is currently lit by 109 floodlights and two searchlights at night.[3]

The Independent Man (1899)

On top of the dome stands a gold-covered bronze statue of a male figure known as The Independent Man. The statue, originally named "Hope," was designed by George Brewster, cast by the Gorham Manufacturing Company,[5] and installed in 1899.[6] The statue weighs more than 500 pounds (230 kg), is 11 feet (3.4 m) tall, and stands 278 feet (85 m) above the ground.[7] The Independent Man represents freedom and independence and alludes to the independent spirit which led Roger Williams to settle and establish Providence Plantations and later the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

In 1976, the statue was removed from its perch for restoration and repair, and the statue's oxidized bronze was covered in gold leaf.[7] Workers cast a full-size replica, which was installed at the Warwick Mall, as well as two replicas of the statue's head,[7] before returning the original to its home atop the State House.

A 2023 drone inspection revealed damage to the statue's pedestal. Governor McKee announced in September that the statue would again be removed and restored.[7][5]

In 2013, Governor Lincoln Chafee's administration started to remove grass from the eastern side of the State House lawn in order to provide extra parking for employees. The move was opposed by the Capital Center Commission, the public board designated to oversee zoning requirements within the district.[8] Supporters of the proposed parking say that there is demand from employees and visitors to the building.[8] Opponents point to existing zoning requirements that make the surface lot illegal, point to the expense of providing parking, and advocate an increased presence for transit, biking, walking, and carpooling instead.[9][10][11] The state spent $3.1 million on an adjoining piece of land on Francis Street next to I-95 for parking, which provides 100 parking spots at around $30,000 a space.[12]

It is an annual State House tradition to feature a Christmas tree and community and cultural holiday displays each December. A Fraser fir or Balsam fir is erected in the rotunda and decorated. The tree, donated by a local family or tree farm, is typically between 17 and 25 feet tall.[13]

It has become a holiday tradition in local media to feature stories about problems with Rhode Island's state tree, often meriting front page treatment:[14]

The 2013 State House tree

• In 2005, the tree was removed from the rotunda after a treatment with flame retardant caused the needles to fall out.[13][14]
• In 2007, a "sickly-looking" tree was replaced a few weeks before Christmas.[14]
• In 2011 Bishop Thomas J. Tobin and others objected to the wording on tree-lighting ceremony invitations, which referred to the tree as a "holiday" tree.[15] Protestors at the tree-lighting ceremony lit a protest tree of their own and sang “O, Christmas Tree,” drowning out the official music provided by a local children's chorus.[14]
• In 2012, the official tree lighting ceremony was canceled.[14]
• In 2013, Governor Chafee changed the wording to "Christmas" tree.[15][14]
• In 2016, a 14-foot Fraser fir was deemed too small for the rotunda.[13][14] A replacement 20-foot tree was placed in the rotunda, and the smaller tree moved to the south steps.[13]
• In 2017, the rotunda's 25-foot Fraser fir made national headlines when it began dropping needles "at an alarming rate," after being on display for three weeks.[16] The New York Post called it "the saddest state capital Christmas tree."[14] The sickly tree was replaced with a smaller (12-foot) tree.[17]
• The 2018 tree was an 18-foot tall Douglas fir donated by a South Kingstown tree farm.[14]
• For 2019, state staff assembled and decorated 18-foot artificial tree, described as a "replica of a California Baby Redwood."[18]

Since 2014, holiday displays from "any Rhode Island area-based religious or secular group" have been featured on the first and second floors.[19] Participating groups have included local religious, ethnic, and secular organizations.[19]

The building served as the United States Capitol exterior in the 1997 film Amistad and the City Hall of Capital City in Disney's Underdog.

• 
  North facade (2014)
• 
  Rotunda ceiling, under the dome
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  State Room ceiling
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  House chamber
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  Senate chamber
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  Rhode Island State Library
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  Statue of Nathanael Greene by Henri Schönhardt (1931)
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  The state house dome, the 4th largest structural stone dome in the world

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence, Rhode Island
• List of state and territorial capitols in the United States
• List of tallest buildings in Providence, Rhode Island

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rhode Island State House.

• Rhode Island State House Visitor Center
• Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS)