Town Hall: Preserving the Past and Tour of our State House

Rhode Island lawmakers put the brakes on a $100 million plan for a new state archives building in 2024.

But the project isn't dead.

Secretary of State Gregg Amore calls it a necessity as Rhode Island keeps its important documents and artifacts in a leased building.

Amore is working on a somewhat scaled down version, but the state faces a $250 million budget shortfall.

Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi says he supports an archives, but House members have other priorities like housing, health care, and education.

In our "Preserving the Past" Town Hall program, we also talk about concerns of a $30 million portrait of George Washington at the State House.

Following the Town Hall, we present a new digital transfer and restoration of "Tour of Our State House" that aired in October 1963.

The film was WJAR-TV's first full color broadcast.

WJAR personality Honey Calvey hosted the program, while Gov. John Chafee provided the commentary.

#statehouse #preservation #wjar #nbc10 #townhall

-----

NBC 10 WJAR is Southern New England's leading news station, covering news, politics, sports and weather in Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and Eastern Connecticut, including Providence, Central Falls, Cranston, East Providence, Newport, Pawtucket, Warwick, Woonsocket, Attleboro, Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton and Cape Cod, and surrounding communities.

Download the NBC 10 News app for iOS at

Download the NBC 10 News app for Android at