Designed by Bigelow, Kent, Willard and Company in 1928, Rodman Hall on the URI campus stands as a historic building with national importance: It once served as a gymnasium and home of the Rhode Island Running Rams basketball team, coached by the legendary Frank Keaney who devised the “fast break” play that changed basketball forever. While his fame lives on untouched, the building’s exterior has not been so fortunate after enduring nearly a century of weathering.

In 2016, BTGA conducted an exterior building condition assessment. The report identified deterioration due to original design conditions and the problems inherent in “transitional” structures, where a steel frame is embedded in masonry construction. After addressing the emergency stabilization of pilaster caps, BTGA provided recommendations for exterior repairs to the brick drillhall volume, including reconstruction of the masonry pilasters to create a drainage plane, repair of rusted steel columns, correction of cracking in the exterior brick walls and window jambs (due to rust-jacking of steel lintels), replacement of the original steel windows, rusted lintels and associated perimeter sealants. Subsequently, BTGA and its team devised repairs for phased implementation over three fiscal years/summer sessions. However, funding was appropriated to complete the work over two.

The unusual existing terracotta outer brick was carefully salvaged and reused wherever possible. If new brick had to be introduced, a local craftsman re-created the iron-spot appearance of the original brick by hand. The failed original steel windows were all replaced with thermally broken aluminum steel-replica units with insulated glass lites and historic profile muntins. The window lintels were carefully removed and replaced with flashed and galvanized pieces, and through-cracking was rebuilt. Future phases plan for skylight and roof replacement and restoration of the granite headhouse masonry.