Faded lettering on door says 'State Returning Board' but what's behind it remains a mystery

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — At first, an original concrete wall was all that contractors could see as they ripped away 1970s era paneling, piece by piece, in a basement office at the State House.

But then the demolition crew exposed some heavy black steel. It was a door.

A vault door.

And so late on Thursday, the foreman had some news for Frank A. Montanaro, the General Assembly’s legislative services director who has been marshaling renovation work in the building’s basement.

“It’s another artifact,” says Montanaro, who relishes such discoveries.

The faded lettering on the door of the vault, says “State Returning Board.”

The board was established in 1901 “to collect, count and tabulate votes,” according to a post on the website of Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea. It was also responsible “for keeping records of vote outcomes.”

Montanaro’s best guess is that the old vault — if it is a vault — might contain some old records stashed away by the Returning Board or its descendants, including the Board of Vote Tabulation, which took over the Returning Board’s duties on its establishment in 1935.

Of course, the only way to know for sure is to open the door. That poses a challenge.

The door has a combination lock and Montinaro doesn’t know the magic numbers.

He says he is trying to spread word through both the active and retired ranks of state government.

Can someone who might have the combination get in touch with him?

Another approach, he says, would involve lifting the heavy vault door off its massive hinges. This is a substantial undertaking that would require budgetary approval, so it’s not happening anytime soon if ever, Montanaro says.

For now, Montanaro is left to theorize as to what’s behind the steel door.

It might lead into a fortified room similar to the old armory on the first floor of the State House.

The former armory and its vault door are part of the office of Senate fiscal staff. That office is directly above the basement office that workers are renovating.

Montanaro considers that a clue. If there is a long-forgotten room in the State House basement, it’s likely that the room would be on the other side of the wall in the office of the House policy director, Lynne Urbani.

Montanaro likes to find history in the State House, which was built in 1904.

Not too long ago he was involved with the discovery and preservation of an old wheel from the World War II era that helped drive a ventilation system.

“You never know what’s going to be behind these walls,” he said.