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Tag Archives: Downtown Providence
New life for Industrial Trust?
On Tuesday, officials gathered in the State House to announce a plan to renovate the Industrial Trust Bank Building (ITBB), Rhode Island’s tallest tower, known also as the Superman Building. It has been vacant since 2013, and sits on the … Continue reading
Fictional Oxford pool room
I once lived for 11 years, 1999-2010, in a downtown Providence billiard room. It was a loft on the fifth floor of the Smith Building (built in 1912) on Eddy Street, renovated in 1999 with views looking to the south … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Books and Culture
Tagged Austerlitz, Billiards, Buff Chace, Downtown Providence, My Former Loft, Providence RI, Smith Building, W.G. Sebald
2 Comments
Keep Kennedy Plaza central
The master planners of Providence and Rhode Island have figured out how to screw up Kennedy Plaza again. In 2015 they removed its four elegant, Art Nouveau-inspired waiting kiosks, replacing them with sterile plasticky kiosks. Now they want to dig … Continue reading
Signs of a city walkabout
My friend Maria Ruggieri and I went walkabout – as Crocodile Dundee would say – in downtown Providence yesterday evening. We popped into a number of new restaurants, the first being Layali, a restaurant/bar (opened by owners of the late … Continue reading
A new Kennedy Plaza plan
A new plan for Kennedy Plaza is described in this morning’s Providence Journal. “Kennedy Plaza plan envisions ‘true civic heart’,” by Donita Naylor and Jacqueline Tempera, describes a proposal that makes a lot of sense. It does not seem to … Continue reading
“Rear Window” trailer trash
Here is a marvelous set of factoids from the website Mental Floss, called “12 Thrilling Facts about ‘Rear Window,” the 1954 movie starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, who investigate a murder through his rear window. And I will assure … Continue reading
Peter Thornton’s Providence
Tomorrow evening at City Hall, some of the buildings of Providence that I love and have photographed over the years will be on display as buildings loved and painted by the artist Peter Thornton of our fair city. His show … Continue reading
Our Downcity walkabout
On a clear, modestly chilly evening that just about defines New England in November, hundreds were out on the streets of downtown Providence. No doubt thousands more were inside on the seats of downtown’s robust round-robin of local restaurants and … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Art and design, Preservation, Providence, Uncategorized, Urbanism and planning
Tagged Buff Chace, Downcity, Downtown Nieghborhood Alliance, Downtown Providence, Maria Ruggieri, Mary Ann Sorrentino, Murals, Providence Arcade, Providence Downtown Improvement District, Rosalina, The Avenue Concept, Ti Adoro
2 Comments
Shots of Westminster Street
Victoria, Billy and I adventured to Westminster Street to see a friend, Elaine Ostrach Chaika, speak about her book, Humans, Dogs and Civilization, at a bookstore, Symposium Books. Afterwards, we walked up Westminster to Empire, where we dipped into the … Continue reading
Snow graces Providence
Here are a few shots I’ve taken over the years during and after snowstorms in downtown Providence. To read the text accompanying the photos, please visit my slide show at GoLocalProv.com, entitled “Dr. Downtown’s Snowy Providence.” I’m not sure I’m … Continue reading
Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Photography, Providence
Tagged art, Beauty, Downtown Providence, Ornament, Snow
5 Comments
Architecture Here and There 