Boston Store (Erie, Pennsylvania)

Boston Store
Boston Store in September 2013
General information
Architectural style	Art Deco
Address	716–728 State Street Erie, Pennsylvania United States
Coordinates	42°7′40″N 80°5′4″W / 42.12778°N 80.08444°W / 42.12778; -80.08444Coordinates: 42°7′40″N 80°5′4″W / 42.12778°N 80.08444°W / 42.12778; -80.08444
Construction started	1929
Completed	1931
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Designated	October 24, 1996
Reference no.	96001194

The Boston Store is a former department store located at and State Street in downtown Erie in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The store itself was founded in 1885, with the building being constructed in 1929. At its peak, two other Boston Stores were opened, in addition to the downtown store. The Boston Store was closed in 1979. The building remained abandoned until 1988, when it was renovated into a combination apartment and commercial building, and was renamed Boston Store Place. The Boston Store was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

The Boston Store is located between 7th and 8th Streets on State Street in downtown Erie. The six-story tall, buff brick building is predominantly cubical with a frontage of 145 feet (44 m) along State Street. The facade is divided into eight bays by brick piers.; the bays are further subdivided by secondary piers. The top of the building is capped with parapet, with piers extending above it and topped with stone coping. Vertical panels containing blue and tan terracotta are inset in the parapets of each bay. The bay containing the main entrance is off-centered and wider than the others; instead of a parapet, it is capped with a balcony-like structure inlaid with terracotta.

The "signature exterior feature of the Boston Store" is the four sided, 40-foot (10 m) bell and clock tower situated over the main entrance. It is supported by four tiers of buttresses, each decreasing in size and capped with limestone. The design of the clock tower "recalls religious, civic, and collegiate themes, and became an instant landmark on the Erie skyline." Each of the four clock faces are 12 feet (4 m) in diameter and have "black metal Roman numerals [on] a background of white translucent glass panels". Terra-cotta circles are inlaid across the top of the tower and "above the last step of the buttresses". The lower section of the tower houses the bell behind a geometric tracery.