Does EP have any "Oddfellows" ???

OddFellows in East Providence?

It may seem obvious that there would be no shortage of odd fellows or odd persons in the city if one were to seek nominations for such. But guffaws aside, there really is a facility in the city for the former purpose of housing "indigent odd fellows." According to the RI Historical Society, The Odd Fellows' Home Association of Rhode Island was founded in 1903 to manage a retirement home for indigent Odd Fellows.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows didn’t cut corners when they built a new meeting hall to accommodate their growing brotherhood in the 1880s. They hired leading Providence architectural firm Gould & Angell to design the new building in the then-fashionable Shingle style and gave it an ample 8,300 square feet of interior space.

For a location they chose the bustling center of 19th-century East Providence, the riverfront western end of Warren Avenue known as Watchemoket Square. The building at 63-65 Warren Ave. would serve as the Odd Fellows’ Rhode Island headquarters for 82 years, but eventually the influence of both the fraternal organization and their neighborhood would wane.

By the 1960s, American culture had changed and the construction of Interstate 195 had leveled half of Watchemoket Square, leaving the remainder a backwater under the shadow of highway ramps (Providence Business News Archives, Wikopedia). Built in 1889 and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Odd Fellows Hall is valued at $179,500, according to assessor records. One problem - it's falling apart. City Manager told the council that the roof leaks so bad that "workers can't and won't get up there to fix it". "It's getting worse by the day," said Lemont who showed little interest in spending money to fix it. "The entire renovation, to bring the place up to code, could cost as much as $2M," said Lemont. "In the meantime we are fixing an overhang roof at the high school entrance, the library roof, Pierce Field pressbox (baseball) which is rotting, and other needy projects," outlined Lemont.

The building has been vacant for a while (it is believed that all indigent odd-fellows are gone) and there are gaping wall and ceiling holes throughout. The council hasn't totally dismissed the idea yet of looking for a buyer or developer. Ward 2 councilman Helder Cunha wondered about offering an interested party tax credits to restore the historical building. "Are there other answers, can we advertise," asked Cunha. Stay tuned to this odd situation.