This weekend will be first time in 130 years a deceased mayor has lain in state at City Hall

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci Jr.’s preferred return to City Hall was undone by the 2014 election, but over the past few days relatives and old allies have been working on his last visit to the building he ruled over on and off over 21 years.

When Cianci’s coffin is placed in the hallway outside the mayor’s offices Saturday and Sunday, it will be the first time in 130 years a deceased mayor has lain in state.

Cianci died Thursday morning at Miriam Hospital after he became ill during a television taping. His relatives and friends were to meet Monday evening to plan the Feb. 8 funeral and procession, Cianci’s nephew Brad Turchetta said.

“It’s been a hard balance, getting everyone involved,” he said.

Turchetta said Cianci, 74, never went into detail on how he wanted his funeral, save that it should be in City Hall and be “big.”

City Council President Luis A. Aponte said the family asked city officials about Cianci lying in state and the feeling was if the family wanted it, that was fine. Cianci's felony convictions tainted his legacy, Aponte said, but it didn't erase it.

"We can separate out his flaws and understand he was the longest serving mayor in the city's history," Aponte said. " ... It's a time to be gracious and kind."

Cianci friend and former mayor Joseph R. Paolino Jr., part of the group planning the events, said beyond having Cianci lie in state for 12 hours over two days, not much was set.

The first choice for a location for the wake was the third floor Alderman’s room in City Hall, he said. It was one of Cianci's favorites in the building, Paolino said. Covered with a false ceiling and partitions when Cianci took office, he personally ordered its polished woods and inlaid floor uncovered and restored. His mayoral portrait hangs in that room, where, during the unveiling on Nov. 19, he was overcome by the heat in the crowded room.

But it has only a single exit that couldn’t accommodate the expected number of people, Paolino said. The area outside the mayor’s offices on the second floor is wide enough to accommodate the coffin with enough room for a steady flow of people walking past.

“This way, people can come up the steps,” he said. “There’ll be a rope, they can walk past and down the other stairs.”

Entrance to City Hall for the wake will be from Washington Street, not the grander main entrance facing Kennedy Plaza. That decision was made for ease of movement through the building.

Turchetta said other details, such as readings and music at the funeral, which will be held at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul on Fenner Street; the eulogy and the procession route, possibly including Atwells Avenue in Federal Hill, maybe with a horse-draw carriage, all have to be decided.

Until those questions are answered, the costs related to the ceremonies won't be known.

Turchetta said the timetable is to have that done by Tuesday so the plan could be reviewed by the city. Paolino said the Elorza administration had been “incredible” with the process. Turchetta agreed, saying of the administration of the man who defeated his uncle in the 2014 election: “They’ve been just wonderful.”

Before Cianci’s death, the two most recent former Providence mayors to die were Dennis Roberts in 1994 and Walter Reynolds in 1987. Roberts was also a former governor, and that dominated his funeral ceremonies. Paolino, who was mayor when Reynolds died, said the family declined an offer to have him lie in state at City Hall.

Paolino said the only time he remembered Cianci saying anything about his eventual funeral was during the 2014 campaign.

“I kidded him that he could plan his own funeral” if he won, Paolino said. “He said ‘They’d never do that for me, they would never allow that.’ I said they might surprise you and he said ‘I wouldn’t be there to see it, so it wouldn’t be a surprise.’ ”

“So I guess he’s surprised,” Paolino said, But “he’d also be happy.”

jhill@providencejournal.com

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