Projo — RISD permanently bans public parking at waterfront campus in Barrington

Locked gates at the entrance to the Rhode Island School of Design’s Tillinghast Place property in Barrington, known to visitors as “RISD Beach.” David DelPoio/The Providence Journal

May 27, 2022

By Antonia Noori Farzan — BARRINGTON — For years, if not decades, "RISD Beach" was one of Rhode Island's worst-kept secrets.

Not the patch of grass on the corner of Benefit and Waterman Streets that has the same nickname — but the college's 35-acre waterfront property in Barrington, formally known as Tillinghast Place. 

Officially, the campus was only open to people affiliated with RISD.

But unofficially, it was widely known that anyone could park at Tillinghast Place and walk down to the beach. Most likely, no one would ask to see a RISD ID. There'd be fewer people than at neighboring Barrington Beach — and, crucially, no need to pay for parking.

Those days are over: Since 2020, visitors have been greeted by a locked gate, and RISD says it's decided to permanently restrict parking to faculty, students and staff.

The public is still welcome to walk onto Tillinghast Place, said spokeswoman Danielle Stead Mancuso. 

But that's easier said than done: Parking is banned on nearly every street in the surrounding neighborhood

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