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Category Archives: Development
Kennedy Plaza is still at risk
Efforts by the city and state governments to make Kennedy Plaza ugly have not yet succeeded in making it fail. But the attempt to ruin the central public square of Providence is ongoing. The plaza’s beauty has diminished greatly since … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Development
Tagged Arup, Bill Warner, Kennedy Plaza, Providence RI, RIDOT, River Relocation Project, Transit Planning, Urban Planning, Waterplace Park
6 Comments
Goofy new RW Park “gateway”
Leafing through the November issue of Providence Monthly, I was dismayed to stumble across a short piece, “Gateway to Change,” by Elyse Major, illustrating a gaudy new portal and visitors center planned for the Broad Street entrance to the city’s … Continue reading
Nix the San Marco bugaboo
In my last post, “Neighbors win third straight,” I described the latest zoom meeting of the Providence Historic District Commission, which deferred action for a third (actually, a fourth) straight time on proposals to relocate a historic cottage and to … Continue reading
Neighbors win third straight
It may not yet be three strikes you’re out for the developers, but neighbors who want to preserve their little nook of history just off Benefit Street have persuaded the Providence Historic Preservation Commission that a plan to plop modern … Continue reading
More pause please, Newport
Faced with a development proposal to replace the Newport Grand casino, the City by the Sea recently placed a moratorium on development in order to suck its elegant thumb about its development guidelines. Bloomberg CityLab published a lengthy article, “History … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Development
Tagged Alex Ulam, Bauhaus, Bloomberg CityLab, Carpionato Group, City Planning, Newport Grand, Newport RI, Patricia Reynolds, Providence RI, Tourism
4 Comments
History as cottage industry
Monday’s meeting via Zoom of the Providence Historic District Commission surprised observers by delaying an expected vote to approve the relocation of a historic Italianate cottage on Williams Street, on College Hill. This was the second straight delay. That does … Continue reading
Subdivide history? Bad idea
The first blocks of William and John streets off Benefit Street, where College Hill meets Fox Point, are steeped not only in history but historical character. Most of the houses on these and nearby blocks were built in the late … Continue reading
Canonicus Square betrayed?
Hoyle Square, in Providence’s West End, where Cranston St. branches off Westminster, was renamed for Canonicus, the Narragansett sachem who in 1636 gave tribal land to Roger Williams for Providence Plantations. I could not learn the year the square’s name … Continue reading
At Brown, here we go again
Brown University is at it again. It plans to tear down old structures in order to build new ones. GoLocalProv.com’s story, “Brown Proposing to Build 375-Bed Residential Hall – Multiple Structures to be Demolished,” mentions four demolitions and reveals that … Continue reading
Imagine all the buildings …
The other day, flipping through stacks of my old Providence Journal columns seeking a shot of a c. 1750 house in Providence’s old village of Hardscrabble (which I found), I came across a column inspired by a website’s image of … Continue reading
