Just a reminder that the City Plan Commission is scheduled to have the proposed subdivision of the Bodell estate on its agenda this coming Tuesday at 4:45 p.m., at the planning department on 444 Westminster Street. The address of the Bodell mansion is 25 Balton Rd., but the estate’s subdivision into five additional parcels to build on is listed as having a Rochambeau Avenue address. My earlier post on this, “The next Blackstone battle?,” ran on August 14. The CPC meeting scheduled soon after failed to reach a quorum so it was postponed until this month.
A strong showing of neighbors might help deter an outcome that, according to some observers, would be bad for the neighborhood. Subdivision might lead to unappealing new houses that diminish the historical character of the district, plus more traffic. A subdivision of the Granoff estate was thwarted by citizen activism a year and a half ago but a victory for the developers on Balton Street could lead to a reversal in the case of the Granoff estate, whose owner wanted to subdivide it into 12 lots. I wrote several posts on this.
About David Brussat
This blog was begun in 2009 as a feature of the Providence Journal, where I was on the editorial board and wrote a weekly column of architecture criticism for three decades. Architecture Here and There fights the style wars for classical architecture and against modern architecture, no holds barred.
History Press asked me to write and in August 2017 published my first book, "Lost Providence." I am now writing my second book.
My freelance writing on architecture and other topics addresses issues of design and culture locally and globally.
I am a member of the board of the New England chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, which bestowed an Arthur Ross Award on me in 2002.
I work from Providence, R.I., where I live with my wife Victoria, my son Billy and our cat Gato.
If you would like to employ my writing and editing to improve your work, please email me at my consultancy, dbrussat@gmail.com, or call 401.351.0457.
Testimonial: "Your work is so wonderful - you now enter my mind and write what I
would have written."
- Nikos Salingaros, mathematician at the University of Texas, architectural theorist and author of many books.
Architecture Here and There 
Might….might not.
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