EDITORIAL: Brown Listens

EDITORIAL: Brown Listens

When Brown first proposed its new performing arts center, the plan included demolishing or moving five historic buildings on Providence’s East Side. It was a bad plan.

The five structures included:

        * Norwood/Benjamin Stevens House - 82 Waterman
        * A house at 86 Waterman
        * Leonard M. Blodgett House - 127 Angell
        * Edward J. Cushing House - 129 Angell
        * Lucien Sharp Carriage House - 135 Angell

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Brown’s plan was met with strong opposition from neighbors, the Brown community, and historic preservationists.

In a December editorial, GoLocal wrote,

“In the past few years, Brown has demolished numerous historically important structures -- more than two dozen in the past two decades.

Historic mansions, carriage houses, and, ultimately, Providence’s history are all being smashed down for Brown’s building boom. Much of Brown’s newer construction has claimed a vast array of Providence’s most beautiful buildings.”

Just two months later, Brown has reconfigured the plan, moving the proposed project across Angell Street, and preserving the historic buildings, limiting the impact to moving just one building — the historic Sharpe House.

Brown deserves credit for listening and revising.