Category Archives: Providence

Past blast: Confusion of the design reviewers

Posted on April 8, 2014 by David Brussat

As an enticement to read Thursday’s column about the new Dean Hotel, on Fountain Street in downtown Providence, I offer a blast from the past. In 2006 the city permitted a developer to pull down the building on Fountain next … Continue reading →

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Time Lapse advance alert!

Posted on April 1, 2014 by David Brussat

Sheila Lennon, Journal uber-blogger, speaks this Thursday. Details below. What is depicted in the photo above? This is a trick question because it is a trick photograph, one that I found on Tuesday afternoon rifling through the Journal photo archives … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Photography, Preservation, Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Good news for Providence!

Posted on April 1, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is great news for the city from Mayor Taveras and the Jewelry District Association! Tip o’ the cap to Lewis Dana for this timely revelation!  

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Blast past: Deep skinny on Parcel 9

Posted on March 29, 2014 by David Brussat

Here is a column I wrote in 1999 about a year after the design for Parcel 9 was denounced  by Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr. This predates any notion that GTECH would turn a sad situation into a continuing … Continue reading →

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(Repost) Waterplace wig-out

Posted on March 29, 2014 by David Brussat

A couple more examples of initial design proposals for buildings in Waterplace Park should suffice to nail down the veracity of the idea that a perverse hand was directing the Capital Center Commission and its design review panel in the … Continue reading →

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(Repost) Waterplace wig-out

Posted on March 28, 2014 by David Brussat

A couple more examples of initial design proposals for buildings in Waterplace Park should suffice to nail down the veracity of the idea that a perverse hand was directing the Capital Center Commission and its design review panel in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Providence, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

More best lost buildings

Posted on March 27, 2014 by David Brussat

A correspondent regrets that my list in this morning’s column (“Providence’s 10 best lost buildings”) did not contain the Albee Theater on Westminster Street. I think he might have meant the Nickel Theater, which was demolished to make way for … Continue reading →

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Providence’s 10 best lost buildings

Posted on March 27, 2014 by David Brussat

Providence has no Penn Station, no lost building whose absence wounds deeply to this day. Union Passenger Depot, designed by Thomas Tefft and completed in 1848, was replaced by Union Station in 1898, arguably its equal in beauty. The Depot’s … Continue reading →

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Past blast: Lost house found

Posted on March 25, 2014 by David Brussat

Here, a blast from the past to whet readers’ whistles for my upcoming column listing the best lost buildings in downtown Providence. This, however, is about a lost house on College Hill, whose ghost I lived next to for six … Continue reading →

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Proposed for Benefit Street

Posted on March 19, 2014 by David Brussat

Yesterday I posted about several projects in Providence, including an excavation of a front yard at 43 Benefit, the Joseph Jenckes House. I talked to Jason Martin of the city’s planning office and he sent me PDFs of the project, … Continue reading →

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