Newport This Week

Pell Gym to be Named After Gaines



The Newport City Council is honoring former mayor Paul Gaines, who died on June 25, by naming the Pell Elementary School gymnasium after him.

“There’s nobody in Newport that has worked harder than the Gaines family,” said Councilor Jeanne- Marie Napolitano. “They were all about kids. You couldn’t have gotten anyone better or more dedicated to family, the growth of kids, and education, than Paul and [wife] Jo Eva Gaines.”

Gaines attended Newport Public Schools and graduated from Xavier University in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in education. He taught social studies, health and physical education at Thompson Junior High School and history at Rogers High School, and served on the School Committee from 1968 to 1972.

In 1977, he became the first African American elected to the City Council, and in 1981, he became the first African American mayor in New England.

As a Rogers student, Gaines excelled as an all-state basketball and baseball player, later serving as head coach of the boys basketball team. In 2002, he was inducted into the Newport Sports Hall of Fame.

The Mayor Paul L. Gaines Gymnasium will feature his photograph so that all Newport elementary students know of his extraordinary life and contributions to the city.

On Aug. 12, the council also pledged $50,000 in his honor to the Pell Technology Fund, to be paid over a multiyear period.

“Probably following up on that, the School Committee will do the same kind of thing,” said Bob Power, fund chairman.

In fact, School Committee member Rebecca Bolan said members are hoping to also pledge $50,000 to be paid in installments, with a resolution expected to be on the Sept. 15 agenda. With the two donations, the fund will exceed $1 million.

“Once it reaches $1 million, it can’t go below that amount,” Power said. “We will do a four-year look-back. We will look at four percent of that, and as long as four percent doesn’t take it below $1 million, they will get that amount of technology.”

Power said the school may then spend that extra stipend on anything it deems fit to purchase.

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