Building Description Arcade Hotel, Springfield Ohio
The structure occupied half a city block and had an attached annex building. The main building had a rectangular plan measuring 144 feet by 344 feet. The annex was 32 feet by 100 feet.
Exterior walls and major partition walls were load-bearing brick. A number of cast iron colwnns were evident throughout the building.
The Arcade skylight framing was of steel truss construction using relatively small members. The annex construction was similar to the main building .
Each commercial space in the Arcade had a basement accessible by stair or ladder which was used primarily for storage and to house the mechanical equipment for the Arcade.
The ground floor level of the Arcade consisted of a skylighted Arcade of shops which ran the entire length of the structure. The main entrance to the Arcade was on the north elevation. Commercial spaces front on the north and west elevations of the building. Approximately twenty-five commercial spaces had frontage at the interior of the Arcade. Additionally, the hotel lobby, bar and billiard rooms were located at the southeast end of the building. The exterior entrance to the hotel lobby was located on the south side of the building. This lobby also had a major entrance from the Arcade. The southeast portion of the structure, which was separated from the main portion of the structure by a public alley, was commonly referred to as the annex. The first floor level of the annex contained commercial space.
The second floor level consisted of hotel rooms and related spaces except at the north end of the building which was commercial space available for lease. The hotel dining rooms and the kitchen were located at the south end of the building. An interesting feature of the floor plan was that the hotel rooms which were adjacent to the Arcade had windows which looked out into the skylighted space.
The layout of the third floor was similar to that of the second floor, except that the area above the second floor dining rooms at the south end contained hotel rooms. One notable feature at this level was the large room located in the northeast corner of the building which housed Nelson's Business College and then the Masonic Temple.
The only portion of the structure which had a fourth floor was the original building. This portion formed the northwest corner of the hotel. The spaces on this floor were last used as commercial office spaces, which was evident from the miscellaneous assortment of ledger sheets, letterhead and other trash located within.
The Arcade Hotel structure was appropriately located for the operations housed within. The north facade faced Springfield's central business district. The south facade of the structure, including the hotel entrance, faced the main railroad lines connecting Springfield to Columbus and Dayton. The west facade faced the Esplanade.
The Esplanade historically served as the town square and as such was the site of public gatherings and patriotic celebrations. One notable celebration was the celebration in 1912 given by the "Boys of 1912" in honor of the "Boys of 1861". This event was described in an article in the November 23, 1967 edition of the Springfield News. Oliver S. Kelly donated to the City an ornamental water fountain which was located on the Esplanade. As a result the Esplanade was for a time referred to as Fountain Square and Market Street was renamed Fountain Avenue. Since there was little or no funding allotted for maintenance, the fountain fell into disrepair and was eventually removed.
