Architecture Commons^™

Farewell To The Bucklin Bldg., Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"How does one write an obituary for a building? Does one concentrate on its architecture and long history, or does one single out the actors and forces which killed it? The current razing of the Bucklin Building can only bring sadness to the heart and the need to express, in a few, final words, a tribute to a fine and familiar structure."

Momentous Decision: Capital Center Project, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It may very well be the most important decision facing Providence in this century; it would provide new commercial space approximately one and one-half times that found in the present downtown; it would remove black and ugly 'dead' space (parking) from the foot of the state Capitol and replace it with acres of greenery and enhanced riverfront; it would provide better access into the downtown and facilitate the east-west flow of traffic; it would drastically alter the focus of the downtown; and it would greatly increase the tax base of the capital city. The Capital Center Project, with its proposed …

Downtown Buildings That Link Us To Our Past, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It is sickening and it is sad. A building that has withstood the ravages of time throughout its 103 years of life deserves a better fate; yet there it stands, disembowled and broken by the wrecking ball. The Hoppin Homestead Building on the Westminster Mall will soon be only a memory, and its site will be marked by that ubiquitous asphalt reminder of our automobile addicted age--the parking lot. Is this the cure for old buildings in a downtown that is moving on the road to regeneration?"

Soul City Deserves To Succeed, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream--a dream of equal opportunity and justice for all. An assassin's bullet prevented him from realizing his dream. His friend and well-known leader in the civil rights movement also had a dream--a dream to build a new town in which the injustices of society would be lessened. Today, in the rolling farmland country of North Carolina, Floyd McKissick is working to fulfill his long sought dream."

New Office Building Is Good News, But Questions Of Planning Raised, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The latest piece of news concerning a possible new office building for Providence is just another example of the renewed interested in the downtown of Rhode Island's capital city. Revitalization, resurgence, renewwal--call it what you will--there is no question that the prognosis for the ailing city center is excellent and the "patient" is now on the road to recovery.

Impressions Of Providence, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"A recent Letter to the Editor of this newspaper pointed out part of the problem of our capital city. Whether one agrees with the writer or not, it is important to consider what he said because this is the image of the city which he carried away with him."

Three-Deckers, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"They line many of the streets in the older urban centers of Rhode Island. By present housing standards, they are considered out of fashion. Often in need of repair, built on small lots and crowded together, the multifamily, three-decker is a unique form of urban architecture."

New Towns: A Peek At 1984 In Britian, Ken Parker

Smolski Texts

What's the world, and specifically the United States, coming to in the matter of housing and community life?

At least a partial answer, maybe even a portent of 1984, may lie in a municipality concept described recently by Chester E. Smolski, associate professor of geography at Rhode Island College.

New town, the name generally given to the concept, is familiar, but to most people, the details are vague. Professor Smoslki recieved a grant from the National Science Foundation in 1968 to go to England for a year to study new towns.