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At 19, Umberto Crenca was roaming the streets of Providence in a leather jacket, often with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He was a parochial school graduate so disruptive in school that nuns bragged about how often he appeared in their penance books — and when he wasn’t on his knees…
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While there have been several mill conversions in Providence over the last 25 years, Atlantic Mills is one of the largest industrial buildings in the Olneyville neighborhood that has not (yet) been redeveloped or converted into residential, office space, or other uses. With an abundance of space and an active weekend flea market, the Mills…
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Once again a Providence artist–maker community is faced with destruction, as the much-loved Atlantic Mills in Olneyville, the Big Top, changes hands. We’ve been here plenty of times in the past. In the mid-1980s the owners of Pilgrim Mills at 101 North Main Street shuttered the decrepit building, closing the studios that had been occupied…
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The 18th century Esek Hopkins Homestead in Wanskuck was filled with the sounds of hammering and drilling the last week of February as a group of DIY rehabbers worked on restoring two of the staircases inside. The group of five — plus instructor Noel Sanchez of Casa Buena Builders and a couple of City Parks…
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Not all historic buildings can be saved. It’s an unfortunate truth in the preservation business. Sometimes, buildings that have been left vacant for decades or have suffered significant damage from flooding or fire may be beyond rescue — other times, historic building owners make decisions to demolish in order to build differently. Depending on the circumstances, preservationists…
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The local architecture firm behind some of Providence’s most thoughtful new designs. Providence has its unlikely treasures, and one of them is the brainy, singularly creative architecture firm known as 3Six0. The small firm’s two founders and principals — Chris Bardt and Kyna Leski — are Harvard-trained RISD professors who happen to be husband and…
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