Vew from under colonnade of Providence County Superior Courthouse. (Photo by David Brussat)

Fans of H.P. Lovecraft’s tales of horror, most of which are set in Providence and elsewhere in New England, will want to be downtown at “The Facade” tonight at 7 for an event hosted by NecronomiCon Providence – the conference on all things Lovecraft under way right now.

Facade at Weybosset Street. (ricurrency.com)

The Facade is the remains of the old Providence National Bank Building mostly demolished back in 2008. It now fronts a parking lot next to the Arcade. Here is a Facebook schedule for the series of events there this evening, including a film and some “secret” film clips, along with music and various other tidbits of interest.

I first became aware of Lovecraft long ago when I learned that he had written extensively to the Providence Journal, circa 1927, calling for the Brick Row to be saved from being razed to erect a judicial archives next to the Providence County Superior Courthouse that was also in the planning stages then (and Lovecraft adored its grand Georgian design no less then than I do today). The Brick Row was demolished but the archives was never built. Memorial Park, built in 1996, occupies that space today, along with Paul Phillipe Cret’s WWI memorial.

The photo above was taken last Saturday as my son Billy and I, after attending WaterFire, decided to take in the colonnade of the courthouse (and its Guastavino tile) on our way back to the car. There was a freak shower and people crowded in to join us to get out of the rain. After it had stopped, Billy and I found that while the courtyard was wet the sidewalk in front of the colonnade was dry.

Crank up the theremin! (Oooo-eee-oooo!) H.P. Lovecraft, call your office!