Monthly Archives: December 2018

Rebuilt riding hall in Buda

Posted on December 30, 2018 by

Photographs of progress on the riding hall and stables of Buda Castle, on the Buda side of the Danube in Budapest, raised my spirits this holiday season. Almost complete, the reconstruction seems a good way to express hope in the … Continue reading →

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New blog page on ‘Dystopia’

Posted on December 28, 2018 by

This post serves as the official announcement that I have posted on my blog a new page – as in the “Home” page or the “About the author” page or the “Lost Providence” page. That is, I posted it but … Continue reading →

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Blessings be upon readers

Posted on December 25, 2018 by

Most if not all of the scene above was built since the birth of Christ in a Bethlehem manger long ago. The Church of the Nativity, erected to celebrate that holy birth, still contains, in its basement, the site of … Continue reading →

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Save the carriage house, too

Posted on December 18, 2018 by

The carriage house and servants’ quarters at 315 Slater Ave. is among the outbuildings that would be demolished along with the Beresford-Nicholson house, on the East Side of Providence, if the city approves a proposed major subdivision of the estate … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Meanwhile, on Blackstone

Posted on December 17, 2018 by

A third effort to transform a historic Providence estate into a collection of big cheesy houses has emerged along Blackstone Boulevard. Readers will recall when neighborhood opposition in 2014 thwarted a division of the Granoff estate into ten lots, at … Continue reading →

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The path now against Fane

Posted on December 14, 2018 by

The Providence City Council has overridden Mayor Elorza’s brave veto of a bill to allow developer Jason Fane to proceed with a tower that plainly violates city zoning law. The building would no longer violate the height limit for Parcel … Continue reading →

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Politics of the Fane override

Posted on December 12, 2018 by

When a pro-Fane tower councilman called in sick for Tuesday’s vote on whether to override Mayor Elorza’s brave veto of the Fane tower legislation, the council postponed the vote until tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 13. Having spouted my opposition to the … Continue reading →

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SpongeBob HouseFancy

Posted on December 9, 2018 by

The other day my son Billy replayed for me an episode he had just watched of “SpongeBob SquarePants” (a cartoon that takes place at the bottom of the ocean). Billy, who is 9, thought I would like it, and he … Continue reading →

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The Journal’s ‘R.I. Memories’

Posted on December 6, 2018 by

Black and white photography bears the stamp of history, a ratification of the long-ago. One might wish that photos from, say, the 1890s were in color. That would convey a different authenticity, a satisfaction that today’s colorization processes generally fail … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

A Lost Providence Christmas

Posted on December 3, 2018 by

Just as the Providence Journal has published its magnificent collection of old Providence and Rhode Island photographs, it is time to go out and get (if you don’t have it) my book Lost Providence. The two books would work well … Continue reading →

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