The Shepard Company Building is a historic building at 255 Westminster Street and 72-92 Washington Street in downtownProvidence, Rhode Island. A prominent landmark, it housed Shepard's, Providence's most prestigious department store, and one of the largest in New England, from 1903 to 1974, beginning as a single building built in the 1870s at Clemence and Washington and continually expanding until it occupied the entire block between Westminster, Clemence, Washington and Union Streets.
The building grew in stages, starting as a modest three-story Italianate structure at the corner of Clemence and Washington in 1880. Beginning in 1896 the company embarked on a rapid expansion, designed by Martin & Hall, which was largely completed by 1903. By 1909, the store boasted of having a restaurant which could serve 4100, a laundry, a refrigerating and ice-making plant, a fur storage room, and a complete printing plant.[3]
The building was struck by fire in March 1923, causing over one million dollars worth of damage,[4] but rebuilt under Hall's supervision.[5]
The department store's business was hurt by the development of suburbs and shopping malls in the 1960s.[6] In 1973 the store went bankrupt and was purchased by the Eastern Dry Goods Company.[7] A spokesperson for Eastern Dry Goods told The New York Times in September 1973 that the store "will probably have to be liquidated because of their many problems."[7] The store closed for good in 1974.[6] During the next few years the building was leased to various tenants, and was vacant by the early 1990s.[6]
In the 1990s the Providence Preservation Society organized a charrette to determine the building's future.[2]
In 1993, it was announced that the landmark building was purchased by the Rhode Island Port Authority for "nearly $2.3 million."[6] The announced plan was to open a history museum on the first two floors, to be operated by the Rhode Island Heritage Center.[6] The remainder of the building would be used as office space for up to 500 state workers, including the state Environmental Management Department, the Council on the Arts, and the Library Services department.[6]
When the University of Rhode Island faced losing the space its Providence Campus was using in the Providence Place mall, it decided to move into the Shephard Company Building. The 1996 rehabilitation and renovation of the building to accommodate the school was designed by David Presbrey, and included another sidewalk clock on Washington Street.[2]
