URI's historic Alton Jones campus to reopen to the public

Boston Globe

01-07-2025

Since 1962, when Jones' wife, Nettie Marie Jones, donated the property to the university after her husband's death, the forest has been an asset for the university's research and education efforts.
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Now, a new chapter is being written: URI will reopen the campus to the public for the first time since 2020, under an agreement with the Department of Environmental Management that allows the state agency to use the site for educational opportunities, programs, camps, and other activities.
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The university's Board of Trustees approved the plan on Friday, after reaching the 10-year agreement with DEM, according to a
Gray on Monday acknowledged the arrangement is atypical for the state agency, and there's a reason for that: 'It's a really unique piece of property,' he said.
'You could probably hear in my voice, I'm super excited about this,' Gray said in an interview. 'It's a huge opportunity.'
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Under the agreement, DEM will invest in important infrastructure and handle day-to-day maintenance, and will protect natural resources on the campus, including forest and dam management.
In return, DEM may use the property for 'administrative functions, educational programming, programs and camps, agricultural activities, veterinary care and animal rehabilitation, wildlife and ecological research, and expanded public access,' URI said.
The university, meanwhile, will still use the campus for education and research. The Whispering Pines Conference Center is not part of the agreement, as it is 'reserved for use by URI or a third party,' university officials said.
'The W. Alton Jones Campus is a vital natural resource that holds significant value not just for URI, but for our state and for communities across Rhode Island,' URI President Marc Parlange said in a statement. 'This partnership reflects our dedication to revitalizing the campus, while preserving its ecological and educational value for all Rhode Islanders.'
In an email to the Globe, Dawn Bergantino, a university spokesperson, wrote the campus will reopen to the public 'as soon as feasible,' noting that 'to ensure safe public access, RIDEM will first complete necessary maintenance and forest management work.'
According to Gray, DEM has to modernize space on the campus for its staff, and complete some plumbing and electrical work. The agency also has to complete a forest management plan, which will range from forest fire prevention and preparedness to identifying critical habitat areas on the property, he said.
Rhode Islanders will have a chance to return beginning sometime this fall, he said.
Public access to the campus came to a halt five years ago amid significant costs of forest- and natural-resource management and facility maintenance, although URI faculty and students have continued to conduct research there, according to school officials. The COVID-19 pandemic also exacerbated financial challenges.
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Abby Benson, vice president for administration and finance at URI, said in a statement the university always intended to reopen the site to the public.
'It was important to us to find a financially viable solution to restore public access to the property ​​in a manner that supports our mission as a land-grant institution and preserves ongoing research and educational uses,' Benson said.
In November, URI initiated a request for information to find potential future uses for the space, including seeking partners who could 'manage and revitalize the property,' while still allowing for continued research and education there.
The campus is primarily wooded, but has three developed areas, which include the Environmental Education Center, Whispering Pines Conference Center, and a farm, according to Gray.
DEM has several visions for what it will eventually offer the public at the site, from courses to hiking and fishing, he said.
The department, for instance, already provides training for hunting and fishing, but those programs haven't been offered in 'really ideal locations,' he said.
'This is a much… more accessible place,' Gray said. 'It's a huge upgrade in terms of our delivery of those courses and it'll allow us to work with a lot of the other entities in Rhode Island that also offer environmental camps and education programs for youth.'
DEM will also probably put out a request for proposals to find a farmer to once again manage the farm on the campus, he said.
'The other thing is, part of DEM's operation is we have the state veterinarian. So every once in a while, we have an opportunity or an obligation to house animals, and it might be a rescue situation, it might be a quarantine situation – that kind of thing,' Gray said. 'And right now we don't have any place to do that, so this would give us a place to do that.'
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The department may also partner with wildlife rehabilitators as it moves forward with its plans for the site, Gray said.
'It's a perfect place for it,' he said.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at