Park Tower (Former North Eastern Co-Operative Society Department Store)

The Park Tower, formerly the North Eastern Co-operative Society department store, is a department store built between 1913 and 1915, designed by Lionel G. Ekins. It is constructed of Portland stone ashlar with a slate roof and occupies a large corner site. The building is in a Baroque style. It is three storeys high with an attic, and has four bays on the ground floor, eight bays on the upper floors, and a curved quadrant bay at the corner.

The ground floor features a stone fascia and cornice on rusticated piers, with mid-20th century shop fronts and doorways. A giant Ionic order runs through the upper floors. Windows are recessed behind single and paired columns. The first floor has moulded, mullioned-and-transomed casement windows. The second floor has moulded mullioned casements with glazing bars and decorative swags to the ornamented aprons. A recessed two-storey bay window is present in the quadrant, with banded, concave splayed sides. The fifth bay features a Diocletian window above a mullioned three-light casement window set within a round-headed arch of banded rustication with a convex chamfer, keystone and a pediment with an embellished tympanum. A short, square clock tower rises above the fifth bay, with banded rusticated antae and urn finials at the corners. The masonry domed, octagonal cupola has convex sides alternating with Ionic, open-pedimented aedicules. A balustraded parapet with a raised pedestal inscription reads ‘HARTLEPOOLS COOPERATIVE SOCIETY.’ A low-pitched mansard roof tops the building. The seven-bay right return is similar in design, but lacks a clock tower. A later extension on the west side (rear) is of no particular architectural interest. The clock tower is a noteworthy feature of the town centre.