The Arcade was built in 1828 and is the nation’s oldest indoor shopping mall in downtown Providence. This historic structure has Greek Revival columns, granite walls and classic facades still standing beautifully after more than 185 years watching over Westminster and Weybosset Streets.
Those who worked or lived in Providence at the time spent their days in the open center atrium to enjoy the delicious eateries and shop the small stores. The Arcade was designed by Russell Warren and Tallman & Bucklin in hopes for it to be a space for shopping and gathering inside with skylights for natural light. The design was inspired by many similar buildings found throughout Europe.
At the time of the Arcade’s opening, there were only a few stores on the west side of the building. Most of the shopping was on the east side. The Arcade was slow to attract customers and was known as “Butler’s Folly” for several years because of its distance from the shopping district. All things changed when a high end hat shop opened up, which attracted many wealthy customers to the neighborhood. More and more stores started to develop and it became a major shopping area in Providence.
Unfortunately, the Arcade closed in 2008 because not enough retail space was being used. To revamp this old mall it took the commitment from several new stores to take over the empty retail spaces.It reopened ints doors in 2013 and is now used today as a residential and commercial mixed- use building.
You can choose to shop at any mall, but you will never experience a mall with this much history and beautiful architecture! Visit arcadeprovidence.com (https://www. arcadeprovidence.com/) to learn more and check out their gorgeous, microlofts which are for rent!
