About the Campus

---

Newport's rich history and CCRI's innovative spirit combine to create the Newport County Campus

Picture the architecture of the City by the Sea — the sharp angles of its roofs and eaves, the irregular textures of its shingled storefronts, the reflections of the Atlantic Ocean and the New England sky in its many windowpanes. This is the mood that J. Michael Abbott of Newport Collaborative Architects hoped to capture in his latest design — a 65,000-square-foot building sited on 5+ acres of a 14.2-acre parcel formerly owned by the U.S. Navy.

This focal point of Newport’s North End revitalization is also known as the CCRI Newport County campus.

The new campus will appear as a single, three-story building; however, it is actually three separate but connected structures that include a student services complex, a classroom/laboratory wing, and an auditorium.

From Bellevue Avenue’s elaborate summer houses to the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s Casino, the Shingle Style architecture of Newport helped influence Abbott’s design choices for the new campus. Abbott envisioned an inviting, residential-scale building that would rise from a ground floor of brick, build to several shingled upper stories, and culminate in a pitched roofline punctuated by chimneys, dormers and even a turret.

Abbott says, "I wanted something that would be a gateway, a signature building that would say, ‘Wow, now you have arrived in Newport.’"

High Tech Campus

Although the exterior of the building will pay homage to the island’s rich architectural heritage, the interior is pointed toward the future, according to CCRI Dean of Administration Stephen Marginson.

"The Newport County campus is by far the most high tech of the campuses to date," he says, adding that the campus plans include 16 "smart" classrooms wired for both data and video reception, as well as academic computer labs, distance learning laboratories and a multi-media seminar room.

At CCRI Newport, state-of-the-art technology will not be limited to computer capabilities.

"Whenever we build, we make sure we’re on top of energy efficiency," Marginson says.

The campus’s light-filled, two-story atrium will embody this philosophy, with a glass roof that employs passive solar principles. Energy conserving sensors will modulate the atrium’s artificial light to make the most of Newport’s sunny days.

This atrium will not only serve to integrate the campus’s three distinct structures, but also create an important social gathering spot for students and faculty. Abbott likens it to a college quadrangle, with a difference—this one will be enclosed.

"With our winters and our being on the water, we needed a space that could be used year-round," he says. With student services, the cafeteria, the classrooms, offices and auditorium all opening into the atrium, Abbott says, "We’re creating a very active public square."

History of CCRI in Newport

CCRI has had a presence on Aquidneck Island since 1988, when Newport Hospital began serving as a satellite campus for the CCRI nursing program. CCRI confers approximately 150 Associate in Science in Nursing degrees each year, an estimated 20 percent of whom were educated through Newport Hospital's evening and weekend program.

The current set-up can be more than disorienting for a local CCRI student; it can be downright isolating. So says Kim Crealey-Rouillier, director of CCRI Rehabilitative Health department now housed at Newport Hospital. Rehabilitative Health, the umbrella for CCRI’s Occupational Therapy Assistant, Physical Therapist Assistant and Therapeutic Massage programs, is among those that will relocate to the new, consolidated Newport County campus in the not-too-distant future.

"Not only are our students going to have bigger, more state-of-the-art laboratory experiences, but they will have access to more campus life experiences," Crealey-Rouillier says.

Aquidneck Island residents will also have access to more campus life experiences, thanks to the 250-seat auditorium, which will play host to an array of community programs, from cultural events to city forums. Abbott, planning for such public use of the building, has designed the auditorium to accommodate the public even as the building’s classrooms are safely under lock and key.

In addition, CCRI is currently collaborating with East Bay business representatives to design new training programs for the area’s workforce. The planned campus will play a major role in creating what Marginson calls, "a new identity for the North End of Newport." With a projected student body of more than 2,000, CCRI in Newport would become a prime provider of post-secondary education for the island’s North End, an area earmarked for economic redevelopment by state and federal agencies.

Future of CCRI in Newport

Keith Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, elaborates: "The Newport campus is going to play a critical role in preparing local residents and workers to be trained for the high tech growth industries within the East Bay region. … The specific industries that we look for in this kind of training and education partnership include marine trades, tourism and hospitality, and software computer development."

CCRI officials have administered and evaluated a survey of county businesses to determine their most pressing training needs, and are already responding to the results. This fall, 18 months before the actual opening of the campus, CCRI plans to offer the community its first hospitality course held at Middletown High School.

Hospitality is a magic word to Newport-area business owners that comprise the area’s growing hotel, tourism and travel industries. If successful, this experiment could eventually lead to a CCRI certificate program in hospitality, one that combines business and office administration courses with current travel and tourism courses and new hospitality offerings, according to Dean of Business & Technology Peter Woodberry. And this is just the beginning of the educational opportunities in CCRI Newport’s future.

"Ultimately," says Stokes, "the completion of the campus is going to be the centerpiece of a major revitalization effort of the North side of the Newport community, which presently has one of the largest concentrations of limited income families. Clearly, the college and its resources are going to provide direct benefits to the Newport citizens who need them most."

CCRI Newport County Campus Directions

FROM NEWPORT BRIDGE: Remain on the access road headed toward Fall River/Cape Cod (Do not take Scenic Downtown Newport exit). Newport Grand will be directly across from the light at the bottom of the exit ramp. At the light, turn right onto Admiral Kalbfus Road. Upon entering the rotary, take your first right onto Connell Highway, and continue for approximately one mile. CCRI is immediately past the Little League field on your right.

FROM SOUTH RI 114 South (West Main Road):  Turn right onto Coddington Highway. CCRI is next to the Little League fields on your left.