Tag Archives: Providence Journal

A new Kennedy Plaza plan

Posted on September 1, 2017 by David Brussat

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 →

Posted in Architecture, Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Mom rendered as a building

Posted on August 31, 2017 by David Brussat

I tried in my last blog, “The architecture of the wife,” earlier today, to link to a column I wrote in 2004 to honor my late mother, Mona Brussat, and downloaded from the archive of the Providence Journal. It didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art and design, Lost Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Out with the new, in with …

Posted on August 22, 2017 by David Brussat

A new apartment building planned for Westminster Street outside of downtown, well beyond Route 95, is going through the design process. The Journal’s story, “5-story building gets go-ahead in Providence” describes tough going for the developer, Michael Lemoi, whose project … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Development, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

R.I. State House at risk

Posted on July 13, 2017 by David Brussat

Rhode Island transportation officials want to spend millions in tax money to accomplish a goal achievable for mere thousands, and to do so in part on the State House Lawn. The Capital Center Commission, which has overseen the development district’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Unwelcome Arnold House?

Posted on May 25, 2017 by David Brussat

Is the Welcome Arnold House (circa 1785), on Planet Street in Fox Point, doomed to demolition by neglect? That’s the question posed by Catherine Zipf’s architecture column in today’s Providence Journal. She wonders whether its owner, Walter Bronhard, intends to … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation, Providence | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

One dry eye at Fogarty wake

Posted on March 17, 2017 by David Brussat

There’s a bar in downtown Providence, a karaoke place at Westminster and Empire, called Finnegan’s Wake. Well, today we held Fogarty’s Wake for the Fogarty Building, who’s demo began Monday. I’ve made a cottage industry of disparaging it in print. … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Christopher Gray, RIP

Posted on March 14, 2017 by David Brussat

Just got a sad email from Irving Sheldon, my friend and former colleague at the Providence Journal, that Christopher Gray has just died. From 1987 to 2014, he wrote the weekly “Streetscapes” column in the real-estate section on Sundays for … Continue reading →

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Oops! Wrong shot of hotel

Posted on March 11, 2017 by David Brussat

Thursday’s Providence Journal story, “Icon? Eyesore? Demolition to begin of Fogar- ty Building in downtown,” about the demise of the Fogarty Building and its replacement by a new hotel had the wrong picture of the hotel design. It shows the … Continue reading →

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Swallow up R.I., circa 1862

Posted on March 11, 2017 by David Brussat

The British writer Anthony Trollope, born in 1815, wrote over forty novels plus various nonfictional accounts, including a two-volume North America, published in 1862 and based on a nine months’ sojourn here. In 1823, his mother, Frances Trollope, wrote a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and Culture, Rhode Island | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Amtrak’s R.I. rural removal

Posted on January 16, 2017 by David Brussat

If the description by two Charlestown, R.I., town council leaders of Amtrak’s plan for an alternate route through that town are accurate, the proposal must be stopped. It is no less than “rural removal,” same as the old “urban removal” … Continue reading →

Posted in Urbanism and planning | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments