
The north end of the building still carries signage for the ill-fated Club Karma, the most recent in a years-long succession of notorious clubs whose licenses were revoked for multiple infractions of license regulations. The south end of the building currently houses The Spot, the popular music venue.
Purchase of the building will allow for an expansion of the planned 400-person complex to 500 spaces. Typical of development projects, there are contingencies, as Kate Bramson explained in detail in this article in Tuesday's Providence Journal.
Several members of the JDA attended yesterday's Design Review Committee meeting at which the developers and architect's presented the first design concepts for the project. Following today's JDA monthly meeting, we'll provide further reactions to the proposal and the design.
Meanwhile, if you'd like to get one man's opinion on the subject, in a wide-ranging discussion, David Brussat takes a look at the pros, the cons and the stylistic niceties (or lack of same) of the proposal. As usual, Brussat pulls no punches. He even has some nice-ish thing to say about the Karma building (opinions not necessarily shared by people who live near the structure and have less than fond memories). Click here for his latest post in Architecture Here and There.