History
The arcade was built by Watertown native Loveland Paddock and designed by architect Otis Wheelock. It was based on similar arcades built during that era in the United States and Europe. Shops occupied the bottom floor, while the upper floors were used for office space.
In the 1920s, a large section of the Paddock Building was demolished to make way for new construction. Also in the 1920s, arcade owners put forth a major redesign of the arcade, eschewing its original Gothic interior with a more modern design, which included the installation of the current translucent, steel-and-wire-glass dropped ceiling between its second and third stories. This ceiling still allowed light to filter in from the arcade's glass roof.
Read more about this topic: Paddock Arcade
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