Boston declares Downtown Crossing building a historic gem

The Boston Landmarks Commission recently designated the Jewelers' Building at Washington and Bromfield streets as the city's newest official landmark.

The building - originally two separate structures erected in 1897 and 1904 - is, according to a commission report:

A commanding example of large-scale, steel-frame commercial architecture built at the turn of the 20th century in Boston’s Financial District. It is notable for its use of thin-skinned terra cotta cladding with unusually vibrant sculptural ornament, and its harmonious interpretation of Beaux Arts, Spanish Renaissance, and Classical Revival styles. It is also notable as the work of two prolific architectural firms, Winslow & Wetherell and Arthur
Bowditch, as well as one of the foremost building contractors in the nation in the late 19th and 20th centuries, George A. Fuller & Co. Largely intact, the property retains integrity of location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.

Designation means that any potential changes to the building's exterior would have to be reviewed by the commission first.

The commission first began studying whether to designate the building as an official landmark in 1986.