A site rendering for the new Tomaquag Museum to be built on the 18 acres in Kingston of land owned by the University of Rhode Island. A $2 million portion of the arts and cultural bond approved by voters will go toward the museum project set to break ground next year. (www.tomaquagmuseum.org/)
Rhode Islanders approved a slate of four bond initiatives, totaling about $343 million, at the polls Tuesday, according to unofficial preliminary results from the state Board of Elections.
Voters were more than willing to pony up funds for an assortment of statewide projects involving housing, the green economy, higher education and the arts industry.
Support for state-level bonds is a well-worn motif in Rhode Island, and the last time a ballot measure faced defeat was in 2006, when a $4 million bond for upgrades to Fort Adams State Park floundered. But local enthusiasm can be choosier, like in the 2023 special election, when North Kingstown and Smithfield voters rejected a pair of bonds related to capital improvement for schools.