A letter from Dayton Spence
President, New Millenium, Inc.

'When we restore our historic buildings we create a proper foundation for future innovation…we become stewards not only of our aesthetic past, but of an identity that acknowledges our values to posterity. The Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island is an historically significant landmark of this area. In fact, it has become a catalyst of downtown Providence well worth the effort that has been expended in saving it.
The response to the Board of Directors' call to restore this theatre for the community's use has created an attitude of high interest that is protecting and preserving this bit of American historical architecture. Passing down to future generations a 20th century vision that transcends 2000 years of traditional artistic techniques and building styles is politically correct in today's world. All of the ornament in this building represents the various ethnic and cultural groups of the region. So, in this scenario, the Renaissance touches the 21st century and beyond.
A community as historically minded as Providence deserves a building where people can be entertained like royalty. We have been a no-deposit, no-return society that has decimated our 18th and 19th century roots. We are making a statement, a very sensible one, that shows the common sense of saving a functional building that could not feasibly be replicated again.
Will we restore contemporary movie theatres? We don't think so. It is true that movie palaces and American Eclectic II theatres were once likened to painted girls on street corners, aesthetic prostitutes, but here is one that became respectable with age and the indiscriminate demolition of many of her friends. At one time, there were thousands of small classic theatres in North America, sad to say that most are now parking lots, townhouses, and drugstores due to short-term planning, lack of foresight, or developers with only profits in mind. We must remember that architecture is frozen music: it has melody, tone, and rhythm.
Culture and community attitude make a city. Americans are only now learning what Europe and other world communities have long since known; that our shelter, with aesthetic appointment, tells of who and what we are. Yes, maybe a blacktop parking lot with a few parked cars rusting in the sun will be memorialized someday, but would that be a place where a family can be entertained in an atmosphere fit for royalty?
Please support a piece of Rhode Island history that works, is functional, belongs to everyone, and represents all collective cultures. Indeed a monument not only to people past and present, but to future generations, thus allowing us to stand at the edge of a new millennium with keen ideas, perseverance, and pride.'