Design & Life

Old downtown - in color

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 15:30:55 -0500

I recently wrote in a sunday "Talk of the Towns" piece that I bought a Lou Trapasso print that depicted downtown Bridgeport in the 40s. The wide angle really gave me an understanding of what Main and Fairfield must have looked at...

Give HCC everything it wants

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:44:33 -0500

Working near the campus of Housatonic Community College, I see how much life this institution has pumped into our downtown. HCC is just about the best thing that's happened to our area in a dog's age. That's why I giddily propose that HCC be given even more space.

Why is Read's such a mystery?

Thu, 09 Mar 2006 10:58:23 -0500

I went to one of Joe Celli's salsa parties a couple of weeks ago. It was on the top floor of the old Read's Department Store building on Broad and John. If you've been reading any of my former entries here, you know how significant that was for me.

A beast, but in a good way

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 16:34:44 -0500

Why hadn't I gone into the main branch of the Bridgeport Post Office sooner? I wandered in to buy some stamps and I couldn't believe what I saw.

Winter break

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 10:50:55 -0500

The cold weather has interrupted this blog, indirectly at least. I tend not to walk on my lunch hour these days. And even now that it's a little warmer, the fact that I've gotten out of the habit of walking around has limited my observations for this blog. Today will be different, though. I feel so stiff and bloated ... I HAVE to get out. But when I leave 410 State Street, which way should I go? There are so many good options.

Escape from the newsroom

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 11:16:23 -0500

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.

Design decisions

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 11:14:33 -0500

I have returned from Houston, where the Society of Newspaper Design held its annual conference. Design editors from papers big and small came from all over the world. And there I was.

Paging Miss Irwin

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:51:31 -0500

To follow up on my entry on the SNET building on John Street, I learned from a retired former resident that the penthouse on the top floor was occupied by the Sunshine Club, presided over by a Miss Susan Irwin, at least in the 1930s. He was a little boy at the time, and he's not sure today what the Sunshine Club was or what Miss Irwin did (if indeed that's the correct spelling). Can any readers help me out?

And it's beige, no less!

Tue, 20 Sep 2005 15:38:31 -0500

I was about to write about a sprawling, fanciful Victorian house that I drive by every day. It is such an unusual house, with unexpected little gables and shapes, an asymmetrical and odd but somehow charming house -- probably built in Barnum's day. It had been damaged in a fire, but I was heartened to see repairmen there fixing it up. Then my heart sank.

A hidden jewel

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 15:16:00 -0500

The Southern New England Telephone building is a hidden jewel, something I would not have even noticed if it had not been built behind the Post building. I'm not talking about the beige and gray structure with the big SBC sign on it, where people go to pay their bills or buy equipment. I'm talking about its forgotten precedessor across the street.

Inside old Bridgeport

Mon, 29 Aug 2005 11:45:11 -0500

As long as I have lived here, I have been fascinated with Read's old department store, the one that is now Sterling Market Lofts. I was watching a movie on cable over the weekend which left me with the distinct feeling that I had stepped inside the venerable landmark.

OK, OK! I'll start blogging

Mon, 22 Aug 2005 12:00:30 -0500

The Webmaster is upset that I deleted all my first drafts to my first blog. So here I go, typing up my first entry.