Among the most visible is the renovation of the 58-year-old Fine Arts Center in Kingston. The $99 million project includes a new 71,000-square-foot, three-story academic building with a theater lobby, art gallery, digital art and media areas, recording studios and modern classrooms. A ribbon-cutting is scheduled for Sept. 14. | Photo Credit: URI Photos/James Bessette
- The University of Rhode Island says close to 40 construction projects across its campuses are expected to be completed in time for the 2026-27 academic year.
- A $99 million Fine Arts Center renovation is nearing completion, with a ribbon-cutting scheduled for Sept. 14.
- Major longer-term work includes a $42 million renovation of Meade Stadium and a housing project that will add more than 1,100 beds by fall 2028.
- URI is also advancing athletics, research, dining, infrastructure, roofing, HVAC, fire alarm and accessibility projects across the Kingston and Narragansett Bay campuses.
KINGSTON, R.I. — The University of Rhode Island (URI) is moving through a wide-ranging summer construction program that includes academic, athletic, housing, research and infrastructure projects across its campuses.
According to an article from Rhody Today, close to 40 projects are expected to be completed before the 2026-27 academic year, according to URI’s Facilities Group. Among the most visible is the renovation of the 58-year-old Fine Arts Center in Kingston. The $99 million project includes a new 71,000-square-foot, three-story academic building with a theater lobby, art gallery, digital art and media areas, recording studios and modern classrooms. A ribbon-cutting is scheduled for Sept. 14.
Athletics projects are also reshaping the Kingston Campus. Work on a new outdoor track and field complex is nearing completion as part of an $83 million overhaul of on-campus athletic facilities. The complex includes a nine-lane track, jumping runways, a separate throwing facility, a digital scoreboard and a grandstand with an accessible lift to a new press box.
At Meade Stadium, crews are building the foundation for a new east grandstand and press box. The $42 million renovation is expected to be completed by fall 2027 and will add seating, an elevator-accessible press box, food-truck space and a new plaza entrance. URI football will play its 2026 home schedule at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket while construction continues.
Housing expansion is underway along Flagg Road through a public-private partnership with Gilbane. The project includes two new residence halls and reconstruction of the Graduate Village Apartments. One residence hall is scheduled to open in fall 2027, and the three new residential facilities are expected to add more than 1,100 beds to the Kingston Campus by fall 2028.
URI is also investing at its Narragansett Bay Campus. The new 32,000-square-foot Ocean Robotics Laboratory is complete and occupied, while the former Sheets Building has been demolished to make way for a new ocean engineering building with a large wave tank. Construction is also beginning on the Ocean Frontiers Building, which will replace Horn Laboratory with modern research labs.
Additional summer work includes dining hall renovations, roof replacements, HVAC upgrades, elevator improvements, structural repairs at the Steam Plant, wireless fire alarm installation and sidewalk and accessibility improvements. Farm House Road on the Kingston Campus will remain closed through September while underground steam pipeline work continues.