Community group looks for public support for Wedding Cake House repairs

THE KENDRICK-PRENTICE-TIROCCHI HOUSE on Broadway in Providence, long considered one of the city's most endangered properties by the Providence Preservation Society, is the focus of a public campaign to raise money for emergency repairs, even as its nonprofit owner, ONE Neighborhood Builders, looks to sell it. / COURTESY PROVIDENCE PRESERVATION SOCIETY/JAN ARMOR
THE KENDRICK-PRENTICE-TIROCCHI HOUSE on Broadway in Providence, long considered one of the city's most endangered properties by the Providence Preservation Society, is the focus of a public campaign to raise money for emergency repairs, even as its nonprofit owner, ONE Neighborhood Builders, looks to sell it. / COURTESY PROVIDENCE PRESERVATION SOCIETY/JAN ARMOR

PROVIDENCE – A public fundraising campaign has been launched to help provide funds for emergency repairs for the “Wedding Cake House,” an ornate, Victorian-era structure that has three times made the list of the city’s most endangered properties compiled by the Providence Preservation Society.
The property, at 514 Broadway, is formally known as the Kendrick-Prentice-Tirocchi House, and was best known as the location of an upscale dressmaking shop operated by sisters Anna and Laura Tirocchi, beginning in 1915.
Long vacant, the house was purchased in early 2011 out of foreclosure by the nonprofit Community Works Rhode Island, which initially had plans to redevelop it as three “workforce-housing” rental apartments, along with an owner’s unit. Earlier this year, the organization merged with another nonprofit, Olneyville Development Corp.
The newly combined organization, ONE Neighborhood Builders, is now trying to sell the Kendrick-Prentice-Tirocchi property, according to the fundraising announcement.
The historical house is being marketed “as is,” in its current state, with the potential to become a four-unit structure. The list price is $699,000, and the listing is with Realtor Joseph McCarthy, of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Warwick.
The online campaign, organized by the Preservation Society and the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, is posted on the Indiegogo fundraising site, and seeks $25,000 to cover emergency repairs to the signature tower, roof and exterior of the building.
About $2,000 has been raised so far. To view the appeal, visit: indiegogo.com/projects/preserve-prentice-pvd#/story.

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