Category Archives: Architecture

Capital Center Build-Out

Posted on November 28, 2022 by David Brussat

View pictures, left to right, Center Place, the Gateway Center, Blue Cross/Blue Shield (to its rear), GTECH and half of Providence Place. The Westin towers are in further distance, behind the mall and GTECH, which distance seems to render smaller … Continue reading →

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Capital Center Plan, cont.

Posted on November 24, 2022 by David Brussat

The famous napkin from Blue Point Oyster Bar with sketches that do not include moving the Providence River, unless that is the sketch beneath the wine splotch. (Friedrich St. Florian) This second part of Chapter 18, “Capital Center Plan,” from … Continue reading →

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The Capital Center Plan

Posted on November 18, 2022 by David Brussat

Here this series of chapters from Lost Providence skips back to Chapter 18, “Capital Center Plan” to describe the origins of the plan, announced in 1978, to revitalize downtown by providing a new business district to rival the old downtown. … Continue reading →

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“We hate that,” cont.

Posted on November 15, 2022 by David Brussat

Westminster Street, reprogrammed to open Westminster Mall to vehicular street. (Visit Rhode Island) Here is the remainder of Chapter 19, “We Hate That.” No, for those who missed the first part, no we do not hate Westminster Street, far from … Continue reading →

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Chapter 19, “We hate that”

Posted on November 13, 2022 by David Brussat

View of Old Stone Square (1984) from Turk’s Head Building (1913), site of author’s Turk’s Head Club luncheon with Journal publisher Michael Metcalf in 1984. (Photo by author) I decided to go with Chapter 19, “We Hate That” because how … Continue reading →

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The Interface Plan of 1974

Posted on November 6, 2022 by David Brussat

The second half of Chapter 17, “The Interface Plan,” from Lost Providence, tells the story of the plan produced by the Rhode Island School of Design students under Prof. Gerald Howes. It was the first plan to open up the … Continue reading →

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Delay foils NYC megaproject?

Posted on November 2, 2022 by David Brussat

rendering of proposed Eighth Avenue facade of Penn Station. (Nova Concepts/Richard Cameron) Crain’s New York, the financial newspaper, reports that Vornado Realty Trust has announced it is delaying its plan to build ten skyscrapers in the near vicinity of Pennsylvania … Continue reading →

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The College Hill Study, cont.

Posted on October 31, 2022 by David Brussat

Here is the second half of Chapter 16, “The College Hill Study,” from Lost Providence. The study’s proposals, released in 1959, would have replaced much of the fabled district’s historical houses with modernist infill, although most of the houses condemned … Continue reading →

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The College Hill Study

Posted on October 28, 2022 by David Brussat

This is the first half of the second chapter in this series, which reprints segments from Part II of Lost Providence, published in 2017 by History Press. Chapter 16, “The College Hill Study,” looks at how the city intended to … Continue reading →

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Downtown Providence 1970

Posted on October 25, 2022 by David Brussat

This is the second half of Chapter 15 from Lost Providence. Chapters leading up to “Downtown Providence 1970 Plan” in Part II of the book are: “Cove Basin and the Railroads,” “The World’s Widest Bridge” and “New Courthouse and Old … Continue reading →

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