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Louttit Laundry

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Coordinates: 41°49′4″N 71°25′27″W / 41.81778°N 71.42417°W / 41.81778; -71.42417
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Louttit Laundry
Louttit Laundry southern facade, April 2002, looking west northwest
Louttit Laundry is located in Rhode Island
Louttit Laundry
Louttit Laundry is located in the United States
Louttit Laundry
LocationProvidence, Rhode Island
Coordinates41°49′4″N 71°25′27″W / 41.81778°N 71.42417°W / 41.81778; -71.42417
Built1906, 1925[2][3]
Architectural styleGeorgian Revival
Demolished2008[4]
NRHP reference No.04000197 [1]
Added to NRHPMarch 18, 2004

Louttit Laundry was at one time the largest laundry business in Rhode Island, with 150 employees and 16 outlets throughout the state.[5] Their historic building at 93 Cranston Street (previously home to What Cheer Steam Laundry) was on the National Register of Historic Places. The company was sold in 1985 and closed in 1987.[5] The Cranston Street building was built in 1906, expanded in 1925,[3] damaged by fire in 2001, and demolished in 2008.

History

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Louttit receipt from 1912

William Louttit's Home Hand Laundry[6] was established in 1896 by William E. Louttit. His business grew rapidly. A receipt from 1912 shows Louttit locations added in 1897, 1899, 1902, and operating "today" out of 307 Broad Street.[7] The receipt lists a "downtown office" address in the Howard Building at 171 Westminster Street.[7]

Building at 93 Cranston Street

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The main building was a long two-story brick structure with modest Georgian Colonial Revival styling built in 1906, with an office block at one end, added in 1925. Its frontispiece featured a "projecting pedimented entrance."[6]

Louttit moved to the 93 Cranston Street location in 1918, where the What Cheer Laundry (purchased by Loutitt) had operated since 1901. Loutitt operated from a 1906 building built by the What Cheer proprietors, and expanded in 1925 with the construction of this larger facility.[2][4] At that time, Louttit was the largest laundry facility in Rhode Island, with over 150 employees and 16 locations.[4] The building complex was sold in 1985 for 1.2 million dollars,[4] and it closed two years later.[6] A fire in 2001 destroyed most of the original 1906 building,[2] leaving only the 1925 building standing.

The ground under the lot was contaminated over the years with cleaning chemicals and heating oil, requiring an extensive cleanup before the land could be used again.[6] In 2005, the city received a $200,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for a cleanup.[6]

The building sat vacant from 1987 to 2008 and appeared on preservationist lists several times. The city foreclosed on the property in 1999.[5]

Unfortunately, the soil contamination was judged so bad that the only way to clean up the site would be to take down the building.[6] Even efforts to keep Cranston Street Façade intact were decided in the end to be impractical.[4] The city's Historic District Commission gave permission for demolition in October 2007,[6] and in December 2008 the entire structure was demolished by the J.R. Vinagro Corp.[5]

The lot is now home to Urban Greens, a food co-op, and a sustainably built apartment complex.

Preservation efforts

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In an effort to attract attention to the site, the Providence Preservation Society listed the site on their Most Endangered List seven times, as well as listing it on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.[4]

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  • Receipt masthead of Louttit Laundry
    Receipt masthead of Louttit Laundry
  • Southern façade of Louttit Laundry, 2002
    Southern façade of Louttit Laundry, 2002
  • Detail of medallion above main entrance, 2002
    Detail of medallion above main entrance, 2002
  • Sign details along Cranston Street, 2002
    Sign details along Cranston Street, 2002
  • Facade along Cranston St in 2008
    Facade along Cranston St in 2008
  • Vacant lot at 93 Cranston Street, after demolition of Louttit Laundry
    Vacant lot at 93 Cranston Street, after demolition of Louttit Laundry
  • Saved medallion of the former What Cheer Laundry
    Saved medallion of the former What Cheer Laundry

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "NRHP nomination for Louttit Laundry" (PDF). Rhode Island Preservation. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  3. ^ a b There were two buildings, one built in 1906 and an addition built in 1925. By the time of the NRHP designation, the older building was destroyed by the 2001 fire, so it's the 1925 building that was NRHP listed. This explains why ProJo and other sources list the building date as 1906, but the NRHP application lists the date as 1925.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "1995 Ten Most Endangered Properties". Providence Preservation Society. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d "Loutit / What Cheer Steam Laundry". Rhode Island ArtInRuins. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Barbarisi, Daniel (24 October 2007). "Louttit Laundry to fall to wrecking ball". Providence, RI: The Providence Journal. p. D1. Demolition has been approved for the former Louttit Laundry, a historic building on Cranston Street
  7. ^ a b "Louttit Home Hand Laundry Receipt". Wikimedia Commons. Providence, Rhode Island: Louttit Home Hand Laundry. 30 September 1912. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
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