| Erie Federal Courthouse | |
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| Usch erie.jpg The annex, situated between the former library and the original 1937 courthouse, is the main entrance into the complex. |
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| General information | |
| Address | 17 South Park Row, Erie, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 109,046 square feet (10,131 m2) |
| Design and construction | |
| Client | United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, United States Post Office |
| Owner | General Services Administration |
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Erie Federal Courthouse and Post Office
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| Location: | 617 State Street |
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| Built: | 1937 |
| Architect: | Rudolph Stanley-Brown, Louis A. Simon |
| Architectural style: | Moderne |
| NRHP Reference#: | 92000468[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | January 22, 1993 |
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Main Library
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| Location: | 3 South Perry Street |
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| Built: | 1897 |
| Architect: | Alden & Harlow |
| Architectural style: | Beaux-Arts, Second Renaissance |
| NRHP Reference#: | 79002225[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | April 26, 1979 |
The Erie Federal Courthouse and Post Office, also known as Erie Federal Courthouse, in Erie, Pennsylvania, is a complex of buildings that serve as a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and house other federal functions. The main courthouse building was built in 1937 in Moderne architecture style. It served historically as a courthouse, as a post office, and as a government office building. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.[1] By the late 1980s, the federal courts needed more space to effectively serve the public. To resolve the space shortage, the General Services Administration undertook a bold plan to purchase, restore, and adaptively use two adjacent historic buildings: the Erie Public Library and the Isaac Baker & Son Clothing Store.[2] The existing courthouse was rehabilitated and two additions were constructed.[2] Each of the buildings in the complex is of a different architectural style.[2]
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The first United States courthouse in Erie had been constructed at this location in 1888 under the supervision of Mifflin E. Bell., also in the service of the Western District of Pennsylvania. This building also served as a post office. It was demolished to make way for the existing 1938 courthouse.[3]
The 1938 courthouse was designed by Rudolph Stanley-Brown, a Cleveland architect who was the grandson of President James A. Garfield. Built during the Great Depression with funds from New Deal programs, its construction provided local jobs. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. However, the Erie Public Library, completed in 1899 and incorporated into the United States Courthouse complex in the 1980s, is the oldest building in the complex. The Library was designed by the firm of Alden & Harlow of Pittsburgh, and was individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[2]
The 1947 Baker Building was originally a clothing store. Isaac Baker and Son established its first store in the 1850s at another downtown location. When fire destroyed an earlier building, the proprietor hired Erie architect Walter Monahan and consulting architect George Mayer of Cleveland to design a new building. Construction of the building occurred during the period 1943-1946 by the Henry Shenk Company, a prominent Erie general contractor. Shenk had constructed the adjacent Erie Library, over 40 years earlier, and his company was quite large when it began constructing the Baker Building. Work was stopped on the building shortly after it began, because of the constrictions imposed by World War II; however, it resumed in 1945 and was substantially completed in 1946. The Baker Building was also determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.[2]
The new portions are the Courthouse Annex and the Connector, which unite the annex, library, and courthouse. Both are clearly modern. The design and restoration was completed in 2004 by DPK&A Architects and Kingsland Scott Bauer Associates.[2]
The courthouse complex overlooks Perry Square, a park named to honor Admiral Oliver Hazard Perry. Other major buildings front the square, creating a monumental town center.[2] The buildings that now comprise the courthouse complex have distinct architectural styles.
The Erie Public Library combines elements of the Beaux Arts Classicism and Second Renaissance Revival styles of architecture. Both were commonly used at the end of the nineteenth century to convey the importance of public buildings. The building features arched openings, a prominent cornice, swag and garland decorations, and a roofline balustrade. It is clad in Pompeian red brick. The original facade is dominated by a marble portico, which was removed and stored by previous owners. It was reassembled and conserved as part of the renovation, recapturing the library's original grandeur. The library rotunda is one of the most significant interior spaces in Erie and was meticulously restored as part of the renovation. Mahogany paneling and marble floors serve as a backdrop for a decorative paint scheme. Spectacular allegorical murals on each side of the coffered skylight refer to literature, art, science, and poetry. They were completed by Elmer Ellsworth Garnsey, who also completed murals in the New York Stock Exchange and the Library of Congress.[2]
The building is a three story rectangular structure with the basement set partially below grade. The basement is clad in granite that rises to the level of the belt course of the first floor window sills. Above that, the first and second floors are clad with light brown Pompeiian brick and articulated with matching brick Corinthian pilasters containing terra cotta capitals. Windows are rectangular fixed light units on the first floor, and round-headed fixed light units on the second floor. The window frames are terra cotta and provide visual contrast with the brick on the facades. Above the second floor is the terra cotta Ionic order entablature, which contains an architrave, a floriated, bracketed frieze set on top of egg & dart mouldings, and a decorative cornice embellished with lions' heads. Above the entablature is a terra cotta balustrade, set on a terra cotta plinth.[4]
The massing of the building is rectangular, roughly 144' by 275', oriented so that the short dimension faces South Park Row, to the north. The front (north) elevation contains a slight projecting center bay, at the entrance. Until recently (1991-92), a large projecting Ionic Order covered porch highlighted the main public entrance to the building; it was recently found to be structurally unsound, dismantled, and stored on site, pending funding for its eventual restoration. Directly above the main entrance is a terra cotta Palladian Window, with recessed circular niches and festooned garlands across the head. The east and west sides of the building contain projecting central sections; each is three bays in width. On the east side, the secondary entrance to the building is set in a rusticated granite entranceway with an arched door. The arched window on the second floor, directly above, is also flanked by coffered niches, set in the brick. On the west side, the large window at the stair landing has been infilled with glass block (presumably done as a retrofit at some point in an attempt to relieve the building's occupants of the late afternoon sun glare).[4]
On the interior of the building, the primary public space is the Main Hall, positioned directly in the center, and designed so that each major room is directly connected. The Main Hall is open at the second floor level (which contains a balcony that connects all the public spaces on the second floor) and is capped with a square laylight above. On the west side, a large wooden stair with a landing provides the primary means of getting between floors.[4]
Flanking the Main Hall, in the northwest and northeast corners of the first floor (respectively) are the Fiction Room and Reference Room. These rooms are largely unaltered and contain plastered ceilings and walls, with decorative coffered areas in the ceilings to break up the mass and perceived size of the rooms. These rooms also contain original decorative wood bookshelves, set on wood bases, and capped with decorative wood cornice trim. Directly to the south of the Reference Room is the Small Reference Room, which contains a mezzanine and built-in wood shelves on both levels. To the south of the Main Hall is the Nonfiction Room, which was modified in the 1920s and contains metal shelves and a combination metal shelving/mezzanine structure, with integrated partitions for offices.[4]
The primary room on the second floor is the Plavcan Gallery, located in the center of the north side, connecting with the upper part of the Main Hall. The Plavcan Gallery is a large room that contains a vaulted, coffered ceiling with laylights set in the coffers. On the south side of the second floor, two of the offices contain laylights in the ceilings. The basement contains the Children's Library spaces and numerous stack areas; most of the original finishes have been replaced with modern, sound-absorbing, light materials.[4]
The 1938 courthouse was designed in the Stripped Classical style, which was commonly used for Federal buildings constructed during the Great Depression. The building has the monumental scale and form of earlier classically inspired Federal architecture, but lavish ornamentation commonly found on buildings from previous eras is stripped away. The building is clad in Indiana limestone with polished black granite accenting the building base and entrance area. Carved soapstone panels with a Greek key motif are on the second level. On the interior, the vestibules, lobbies, and corridors are clad with blue terra-cotta wainscot. Ceramic tile floors are bordered with another Greek key pattern. Two original courtrooms remain and are elaborately finished with paneled wood wainscot. Two related sculptures entitled “American Youth” flank the courtrooms. Completed by sculptor Henry Kreis shortly after the building was completed, the minimal forms are compatible with the architectural style of the courthouse.[2]
The Baker Building is a two story Moderne style building, situated on the northeast corner of State and Seventh Streets. The Baker Building is one of the best surviving examples of the Art Moderne style of architecture found in Erie. It displays all of the character-defining features of the style, including rounded corners, curved glass-block panels, a metal canopy, and a flat roof. The facade is clad in buff-colored brick and is smooth and devoid of ornamentation, also common characteristics. Because of these significant architectural features, the Baker Building was integrated into the plan for the complex as a U.S. Post Office, although a portion of the rear was demolished.[2]
Its massing is horizontal and rectangular, with a juxtaposed rounded corner facing the intersection. This is the focus of the building and it contains the sign "BAKER'S" at the top of the parapet, and the recessed entrance doors at street level. The corner of the building is supported on two black marble columns that contain flanking, recessed, curved display windows. The curving, horizontal lines of the corner are further reinforced with a cantilevered, brush-chrome canopy that starts on the east elevation and sweeps around to the north elevation. The center of the second floor at the rounded corner is articulated with a large, square, glass block opening that is backlit with vertical fluorescent lights. Elsewhere, the exterior of the building is devoid of ornamentation, except for several additional glass block openings on the second floor.[2]
The plan of the shop utilizes strategically placed curved partitions to draw the shopper's eye deep into the store. Mezzanines, balconies, and two-story spaces are also positioned to break up the uniformity of the space and provide transition from a room on one level to other rooms on other levels. In addition, balcony railings are long and curving, and subtlely evoke a nautical image.[2]
The front (west) portion of the shop contains a rounded, two story entrance space that contains a second floor balcony from to gaze down, while upstairs. Directly behind this space is a retail area that contains, on its east end, a multilevel stairway designed to permits shoppers to climb a full flight up to the second floor above, or half a flight down or up to the retail areas in the rear of the store. Support spaces for tailoring, fitting, offices, and air handling were situated around the perimeter of the store. [2] Aside from a small sign on the top of the cantilevered canopy, very little has changed in the building. The curving entrance on the corner, accentuated with the glass block, and the curved, multilevel spaces inside the building, were only been minimally altered during the nearly five decades of commercial use. These features are distinctive, and combine to illustrate the Moderne style in its complete form.[2]
The Moderne style of commercial architecture was not prominent in Erie, and no other examples known to survive display the level of completeness and intactness exhibited by the Baker Building. [2]
The Connector and Courthouse Annex were constructed under the auspices of GSA's Design Excellence program, which contributes to the rich history of important Federal design by producing high-quality new public buildings. Both new portions are clearly modern construction. However, architects used forms and materials similar to those found on the exteriors of the historic buildings to provide an overall harmonious appearance. The interior of the annex features terrazzo floors and finished hardwoods, most notably on columns and the Shared Legal Library. Commissioned by GSA's Art in Architecture program, two artistic glass windows extend thirty-five feet in height in the new lobby. Designed by David Wilson, the windows evoke monumental columns.[2]
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Erie_Federal_Courthouse Erie Federal Courthouse] at Wikimedia Commons
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