Tag Archives: Providence RI

Fictional Oxford pool room

Posted on February 22, 2022 by David Brussat

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 →

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Backsliding on 67 Williams

Posted on February 3, 2022 by David Brussat

The proposal for a new house on Williams Street where no house has ever been built has, in my mind, slid in status from buildable perhaps to buildable not. I refer to my own minimal support for the design as … Continue reading →

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Save a Providence water view

Posted on January 15, 2022 by David Brussat

It may be too late to do anything for poor Tayo Heuser and Jeff Shore, according to Amy Russo’s story in the Providence Journal, “Neighbors scramble to soften impact of waterfront apartments.” They bought a “home” on Benefit Street seven … Continue reading →

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Presto! Windows and doors!

Posted on December 23, 2021 by David Brussat

On Monday, Dec. 20, the Providence Historic District Commission met for a second time on the proposal for a new house at 67 Williams St. They were to consider conceptual approval that was delayed on Nov. 22, after the developer, … Continue reading →

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Albany-on-Hudson again?

Posted on December 13, 2021 by David Brussat

The capital of the Empire State hopes to do what many cities have done: rip up urban highways inflicted upon them in the 1960s and ’70s. Albany expects soon to remove its elevated eyesore, Interstate 787, which squats between the … Continue reading →

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Why no windows or doors?

Posted on November 24, 2021 by David Brussat

Not long after neighborhood opposition prevailed over insensitive development proposals for historic Fox Point and College Hill in Providence, a new developer and a different architect have arisen to propose a new house on the vacant land just east of … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Presto chango bus hub idea!

Posted on November 16, 2021 by David Brussat

Seemingly out of the clear blue sky a completely new bus hub idea has suddenly emerged in Providence. The Innovation District Transit Center, it’s called. The reigning notion of shifting most buses from Kennedy Plaza to a pair of new … Continue reading →

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

Two rotten eggs and a peach

Posted on September 29, 2021 by David Brussat

The I-195 District Redevelopment Commission, at its Sept. 20 meeting, looked at three proposals for mixed-use apartment complexes on former highway land east of the Providence River. One proposal exceeds the other two in appearance. That should be the primary … Continue reading →

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Telosa: The next BIG thing

Posted on September 8, 2021 by David Brussat

Men have sought to establish utopias for centuries in the mind and even on land. Plato posited his “Republic” long before Sir Thomas More coined “utopia,” but More considered his Utopia (1516) a satire. The founders of successive attempts at … Continue reading →

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WaterFire back in Providence

Posted on September 5, 2021 by David Brussat

Providence has gone two years, since the fall of 2019, without WaterFire, the capital city’s signature work of art, a blessing to citizens of Rhode Island and visitors from much farther afield since 1994. It is the event’s usual crowds … Continue reading →

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