{"nrhp_refnum":"76001306","name":"Arcade Building","other_names":["Grove Arcade,The","Asheville Federal Building","See Also:7900167"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Battery Park, Battle Sq.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Asheville","county":"Buncombe County","state":"NC","lat":35.595555269000045,"lon":-82.55658267199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Arcade Building, also called the Grove Arcade or Asheville Federal Building, is a four-acre commercial building occupying a full city block at Battery Park and Battle Square in Asheville, North Carolina. It was built 1926-1929 to designs by architect Charles N. Parker for developer E. W. Grove.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a major landmark of Asheville and one of the few arcades in North Carolina. It is also a grand, flamboyant example of 1920s architecture with Tudor Revival and medieval ornament, whose original fabric remains essentially intact. It reflects E. W. Grove's vision of a covered commercial mall and tourist center.","narrative":"Covering an entire city block in downtown Asheville, this massive commercial building was begun in 1926 for patent medicine manufacturer and developer E. W. Grove on the site of the old Battery Park Hotel. Architect Charles N. Parker gave it a flamboyant Tudor Revival character, with granite and terra cotta exteriors, barrel-vaulted entrances, griffins, and ram's head gargoyles. Inside, two intersecting skylit arcades form a cruciform plan finished in verde antique and travertine, with bronze spiral staircases. Grove died in 1927 and work paused, resuming in 1928 under new owners; the building opened in 1929, but the planned skyscraper tower was abandoned after the stock market crash. Shops and offices occupied it until the federal government bought it in 1942 and moved in about 1943. It was listed as a landmark of Asheville, one of North Carolina's few arcades, and an intact example of 1920s architecture.","period_of_significance":"1926-1929","architect_builder":"Charles N. Parker (architect); John M. Geary Company (building contractor)","architectural_style":"Flamboyant and eclectic style with many Tudor Revival elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in government use; the federal government has owned it since 1943, and its original fabric is described as essentially intact.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:57.971002-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/77/7191/47719177/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/76001306.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001306/cb3d06bcc0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001306/cb3d06bcc0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Teemu08","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arcade_Building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Teemu08</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arcade_Building.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"79001676","name":"Downtown Asheville Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/downtown-asheville-historic-district-79001676/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719177","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grove_Arcade","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17985580"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/buncombe-county/arcade-building-76001306/"}