The Arcade Building, St. Louis

When it was completed in 1913, the Arcade Building offered a grand two-level indoor shopping space (known as an "arcade" in the early 20th century) from Olive Street to Pine Street. These arcades were located in every major city and offered a grand shopping concourse, a precursor to the shopping malls of the late 20th century in some regards. The St. Louis Arcade wowed visitors to the city with its ornate entrances and vaulted ceilings that featured tiled roofs and chandeliers. Above these two stories, the Arcade Building features two towers that housed offices for decades before the building fell onto hard times along with other historic downtown buildings. The building was renovated in 2015 and is now an apartment buildings for artists (at cheaper rates) and others. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

"History of the Arcade Building." Arcade Apartments. Accessed May 6, 2017. http://www.arcade-apartments.com.

Photo: publichall, via Wikimedia Commons