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November 1, 2005

Escape from the newsroom

How many nice days do we have left this year? Realizing the answer could be zero, I escaped my desk briefly today and walked to McLevy Green and back. I'm glad I did, because it allowed me some quiet time with two of my favorite downtown buildings.

The Court Exchange building on State and Broad is a gem. (Here's a pic.) It's where the Savoy and the Take Time coffee bar are, and the upper levels include a design firm and the public access studios. Some time, look up and enjoy the fanciful 1980s touches that make the building a graceful Bridgeport veteran that has somehow survived the "improvements" that the 20th Century visionaries imposed on so much of our city.

Then sweep your head to the left and take in the upper floors of the building that houses the Playhouse on the Green. (Here's a pic.) Last year, when I was in Paris, my observational powers were more keen (being a tourist, this is natural) and I remember thinking, Why don't we have more buildings with these charming Mansard roofs and little towers (turrets? I'm not sure of the term) in America? And here is a building, right across from the green, that would be an asset to any world city. How many of us regularly zoom right by and fail to appreciate it?

(P.S. -- If you're interested in the history of these two 1890s buildings, don't expect ME to spoonfeed you! March right in to the historical collections at the public library and learn for yourself! You'll also find a host of even lovelier buildings that we've lost.)

Posted by lsteele on 11:16 AM | Comments (10234)