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UMass Dartmouth students preparing rehabilitation proposals for Duvall School; commission to be invited to mayoral presentation
Summary
Faculty and students from UMass Dartmouth’s interior architecture and design program are preparing proposals to rehabilitate the Duvall School (formerly Flint Street/Connell School); the students will present their proposals to the mayor's office and the historical commission expects to be invited to that public presentation.
The Fall River Historical Commission on April 15 heard that students in the interior architecture and design program at UMass Dartmouth are preparing rehabilitation proposals for the Duvall School (the former Flint Street School, later named Duvall). The university professor coordinating the project, Rosemary Badi Solitski, and the student teams are working with city contacts and will present a full set of proposals to the mayor’s office; the commission will be invited to attend that public presentation.
Why it matters: The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which makes it eligible for historic-tax-credit financing; student proposals could inform reuse options and future preservation planning.
What the students are studying Commission staff said they met the students and reviewed a range of proposals from sophomore through senior work; one student is using the building for her thesis project. The student concepts included a mix of affordable housing layouts and a community-oriented temporary housing model adapted from a Boston example. Commission staff said the proposals anticipate the use of historic tax credits because of the building’s National Register status.
Next actions The commission will be notified of the mayor’s-office presentation when a date is set. Staff indicated the presentation will likely be open to the public and added that final student work is still in progress; no formal city action or funding commitment was made at the meeting.
