Huntington Arcade

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Built by the Ritter family in 1925, the former Huntington
Arcade is today a condo complex.

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HUNTINGTON — An arcade is a type of enclosed building that houses many different shops.

Once nearly every large West Virginia city had at least one arcade.
Until it closed, the Huntington Arcade at 913 4th Ave.
was the state’s last surviving arcade.

Designed by the Huntington engineering firm of Leete & Maupin,
 the two-story structure was built by the Ritter family in 1925
 and so was often called the “Ritter Arcade.”

Because it provided a handy entrance to the offices on the upper
floors of the adjacent First Huntington National Bank building,
 it was also sometimes called the “Bank Arcade.

The arcade’s plain façade offered a sharp contrast to its ornate
interior, where colorful terracotta panels ornamented the
first floor and Tudor shields decorated the second
level. A huge skylight provided lots of light.

Retail shops and other business lined the first floor,
while the second level offered office space for
doctors, lawyers and other professionals.

Just a partial list of the arcade’s tenants in the 1950s and ’60s would
include the Powder Puff cosmetics shop, Albers Coffee Shop, the
Arcade Barber Shop, Lombard’s Beauty Salon, the Arcade Book
 & Card Shop, Ridenour’s Arcade Pharmacy, Hite & Waldeck
 Insurance,Brandenburg’s Jewelers, the Arcade Newsstand
 and, of course, the Peanut Shop. The basement was home
 to a popular bowling alley and billiard parlor.

As downtown Huntington struggled with the competition
 offered by the Huntington Mall, the arcade’s retailers
began disappearing. Once a shop at the arcade
 was vacated, it generally stood empty.

Finally, developer Dennis Johnson bought the building and
 invested $2.5 million into turning it into a condominium
 complex, which he named the Galleria.
 It opened in 2014.

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Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Mar. 10, 2020.

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