Tag Archives: Providence Preservation Society

Don’t demo this sad trio

Posted on November 27, 2023 by David Brussat

Someone has it in for a row of decent old houses on Angell Street. Specifically, they are Nos. 209, 211 and 217. They should be preserved. Their preservation should be second nature at every level of policy in Providence. Yet … Continue reading →

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In London, a laudable ruling

Posted on September 27, 2023 by David Brussat

In London a developer has been ordered to tear down a completed 23-story residential building in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, in the southeast of London, because it deviates too far from the original proposal. Residents of 204 flats will … Continue reading →

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Move over, historic character!

Posted on June 2, 2023 by David Brussat

New and dubious projects (the only kind permitted in Providence, it seems) have crossed my desk, perhaps belatedly. One is for an 11-story residential building in the Jewelry District, appalling in its design as is apparently now mandatory under official … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

R.I.H., a place for healing?

Posted on May 7, 2023 by David Brussat

Rhode Island Hospital’s Southwest Pavilion, 1900, Stone, Carpenter & Willson. (PPS) Editor’s note: Two days ago I received a pacemaker at Rhode Island Hospital. I was discharged yesterday, and just by chance I happened upon this old post from 2016 … Continue reading →

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Lessons from the Fane ouster

Posted on April 22, 2023 by David Brussat

The so-called Hope Point Tower threat is gone, done in by inflationary costs and a dodgy market. Lessons from this interlude abound, chiefly that neighborhood opposition to poorly conceived proposals works. Jason Fane’s proposal for a 550-foot tower in a … Continue reading →

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The College Hill Study

Posted on October 28, 2022 by David Brussat

This is the first half of the second chapter in this series, which reprints segments from Part II of Lost Providence, published in 2017 by History Press. Chapter 16, “The College Hill Study,” looks at how the city intended to … Continue reading →

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Beauty, Ma’am, if you can keep it

Posted on September 29, 2022 by David Brussat

Raised river walk of boardwalk with chain-link fencing, its ugliness mitigated by ugly building. (City) Forces are gathering to undo much of the good work done in recent decades to improve the city of Providence. Our beautiful new waterfront seems … Continue reading →

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Flub at Brick School House

Posted on June 11, 2022 by David Brussat

I drove up downtown’s beautiful Westminster Street yesterday and saw director Brent Runyon of the Providence Preservation Society sitting outdoors at a café around noon. I wanted to scream at him: “WTF are you guys doing!” PPS plans to add … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Preservation, Providence | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

A review of design review

Posted on April 23, 2022 by David Brussat

When I first started writing architecture columns for the Providence Journal, I would get up early every so often and attend the design review committee meetings of the Capital Center Commission at 7:00 a.m. I cut my critic’s teeth on … Continue reading →

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New life for Industrial Trust?

Posted on April 14, 2022 by David Brussat

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 →

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