Category Archives: Development

Cameron’s Penn Sta. pitch

Posted on February 27, 2019 by David Brussat

Richard Cameron, who spearheads the plan to have New York’s Pennsylvania Station rebuilt much as it was when it opened in 1910, pitched his proposal in Boston yesterday. Before a large audience at the Boston Design Center, he described how … Continue reading →

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Needless fold on Blackstone

Posted on February 19, 2019 by David Brussat

It looks as if the mansion and the even lovelier caretaker’s cottage at the Beresford-Nicholson estate on Blackstone Boulevard may be coming down. The developer, the Bilotti Group, brought to Tuesday afternoon’s meeting, as requested, a concept to subdivide the … Continue reading →

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Preservation bombshell!

Posted on January 23, 2019 by David Brussat

In a very interesting article in the February issue of East Side Monthly (not yet up on its website) about Providence Preservation Society director Brent Runyon, titled “The Preserver,” staff writer Robert Isenberg elicits from the great director this description … Continue reading →

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Bad trad and good trad

Posted on January 17, 2019 by David Brussat

Two articles fished from today’s indispensable ArchNewsNow.com, the thrice-weekly free compendium of anglospherical articles on architecture, edited by Kristen Richards, show the use and misuse of classical traditions on opposite sides of the world. Guess which is which, above and … Continue reading →

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‘A future, or just history’?

Posted on January 14, 2019 by David Brussat

A Sunday Globe story, “A Future, or Just History,” about Boston caught my eye. I was arrested by the headline, whose kicker and subhead only added insult to injury: “Trapped in Time” and “No, Faneuil Hall isn’t ‘Boston’ anymore. But … Continue reading →

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Showdown on Blackstone

Posted on January 10, 2019 by David Brussat

Next Tuesday’s 4:45 p.m. meeting of the City Plan Commission may tell whether Providence and its citizens can preserve its historical character. A developer wants to demolish the mansion, outbuildings and grounds of the Beresford-Nicholson estate on Blackstone Boulevard, and … Continue reading →

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Box #1, Box #2 or Box #3?

Posted on January 9, 2019 by David Brussat

The headline refers to the three proposals to build on three parcels along the banks of the Providence River in the I-195 corridor. I missed the I-195 commission’s truncated meeting on this matter just before Christmas. The panel left before … Continue reading →

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Save the carriage house, too

Posted on December 18, 2018 by David Brussat

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 →

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Meanwhile, on Blackstone

Posted on December 17, 2018 by David Brussat

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 David Brussat

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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