Cathedral Square

[gregw]

I came across this photo of Cathedral Square from c. 1955. Why did they have to ruin it? What a great complement to Turk's Head Square where Weybosset and Westminster split. They were reunited again at Cathedral Square in front of the statue of Mayor Doyle (since moved to Beneficent House) and the cathedral itself. Talk about great urban fabric.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/egould/237587...57594128051874/

[Garris]

I came across this photo of Cathedral Square from c. 1955. Why did they have to ruin it? What a great complement to Turk's Head Square where Weybosset and Westminster split. They were reunited again at Cathedral Square in front of the statue of Mayor Doyle (since moved to Beneficent House) and the cathedral itself. Talk about great urban fabric.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/egould/237587...57594128051874/

[Pseudo_Work]

Breaks your heart, doesn't it?

- Garris

[jencoleslaw]

I came across this photo of Cathedral Square from c. 1955. Why did they have to ruin it? What a great complement to Turk's Head Square where Weybosset and Westminster split. They were reunited again at Cathedral Square in front of the statue of Mayor Doyle (since moved to Beneficent House) and the cathedral itself. Talk about great urban fabric.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/egould/237587...57594128051874/

[c.a.haynes]

the curse of Urban Renewal, my friends.

[gregw]

The Statue in the picture is of Mayor Thomas Doyle (late 1800s I think). The same statue now stands at the corner of Broad and Empire/Chestnut with an engraving stating that he was a "Pioneer in Urban Renewal." Strangely enough, he might have been pleased to have his statue moved for the sake of Cathedral Square. ugh.

[quente]

Yeah, it's totally our version of Government Center.

[erikg]

Great observation - I never thought of it in that way. Although I think Govt. Ctr. is less isolated and consequently more "active" than our version, that's still not saying much.

[Pseudo_Work]

Govt. Ctr. is an apt comparison, but Cathedral Square is more of a disaster, a more complete failure in my opinion. I walk through it every day, so maybe I am bitter, but it is very isolated, almost always empty. It is not maintained at all, no attempt is made in the fall to remove leaves, no effort to clear snow in the winter. Part of it is given over to cars as if it is a parking lot. The fountain has not worked in years. The plaza was designed by I.M. Pei. I bet you won't see it in the portfolio.

Some of you know more about this no doubt, but even if Westminster St. is reconnected I don't think that it will once again intersect with Weybosset St. Lucky for Providence that many other proposals along these lines failed to find funding.

It was my fickr page the OP linked to. Thanks for looking.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/egould/237587745/

glad to find this site, looks interesting.

erik

[The J District in Prov]

Cathedral Square is a complete disgrace.. What were they thinking. Let's knock everything worthwhile that fits into the cityscape and leave a huge, ugly gaping pit, surrounded by low income housing. The could have left the beautiful Capitol Theatre (The Capitol was located about half a block up Westminster Street from the Modern/Westminster Playhouse near Empire Street. It was demolished in 1965 to make way for a parking lot in the Weybosset Hill renewal project that eliminated segments of Westminster and Weybosset Streets and created a plaza in front of the Cathedral and a complex of buildings adjacent to and near it) and kept this as part as the Arts & Entertainment District.

It's hard to believe there used to be over 60 1000-3500 person gorgeous theatres located downtown. Where did they go? Every surface parking lot you see from the ProJo building to the Jewelry District, once had a beautiful ornate theatre on it. Cinema Treasures

Does the sun even creak through into that plaza? Once your in there, you look around wonder where the hell am I and how do I get out? At least turn the fountain on in the middle so that there is some sort of sound. I think that this was the worst part of urban planning anyone could have ever done and they've done absolutely nothing to correct it.

Arghhhhhhhhhhhh, stuff like this makes me sooooo mad!!!