Newport Landmark To House National Sailing Hall Of Fame

NEWPORT, RI — A Newport landmark will soon become the new home of the National Sailing Hall of Fame. The City of Newport announced the sale of the top two floors of the Armory building on Lower Thames Street on Wednesday for $1.6 million. The building's current occupant, the Armory Antiques Center, will remain open through the summer.

"The City of Newport is pleased to officially welcome the National Sailing Hall of Fame to Lower Thames Street," said City Manager Joseph J. Nicholson, Jr. "We’re confident that the Hall of Fame will be good stewards of the Armory, and are reminding residents and visitors alike that they can continue to visit the Armory in its current form throughout the upcoming season."

The deal was made official on Wednesday after months of negotiations and waiting for the approval process to be complete. The Newport City Council approved the $1,685,000 purchase of the upper two floors of the building in July and in a separate vote in September approved dividing the space into two condominium units.

"We are excited to take this important step in our move into our new home at the Newport Armory," said Gary Jobson, president of the hall of fame. "We are grateful to the City of Newport and the State of Rhode Island for their support at this defining moment for our organization, and we look forward to creating a dynamic showcase for our sport and its heroes."

The city will still own the lower level of the building, which houses the Newport Maritime Center, and rights to the Anne Street pier, beach and right of way.

Construction on the conversion of the building into a museum and exhibit space isn't set to happen until the fall, so the Amory Antiques Marketplace will continue to operate through the summer season.

“We’re very much open for business and are looking forward to welcoming visitors to Lower Thames Street once again this summer through October 2019,” said Cindy Lee, the marketplace's manager.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the marketplace in the Armory.

“I’d really like to thank the Hall of Fame for giving us the chance to mark this important milestone. And although this might be our last year in this building, we remain hopeful that we’ll be able to secure a new space for our roughly 80 vendors in the near future,” Lee added.

The historic Armory building has been a Newport landmark since 1894. One of three similar buildings, it initially housed the local militia before being used by the state National Guard and U.S. Naval Reserve. From the 1960s through the 1980s, it was used as a press center during the America's Cup and has been the home of the Newport Maritime Center since 2012.

The city in 1983 gave the property to the Redevelopment Agency of Newport, which owned it until it was returned to the city's possession in 2010.