East-Erie property bursts with color from mural outside but needs work inside

Dana Massing, Erie Times-News
·3 min read

The outside of 560 E. 12th St. bursts with color — orange, yellow, red, pink, purple, blue, black, brown and a lot of maybe aqua, turquoise or teal, depending on the lighting and what your eyes see.

The public art mural's large painted flowers decorate the front of the building along East 12th and the side along Ash Street, which also features butterflies, an open book and a two-story image of a smiling girl with her hair in braids.

This property at 560 E. 12th St. was formerly a pub and the base for a food truck. Its outside was painted in 2022 as part of a public art mural project.
This property at 560 E. 12th St. was formerly a pub and the base for a food truck. Its outside was painted in 2022 as part of a public art mural project.

Parts of the inside are no less colorful, with purple walls in bedrooms and red trim in the living room upstairs and what is described as a copper roof in the main room downstairs that used to be a pub. More recently, it was owned by the operators of a food truck.

"We're hoping maybe someone will put a business down here and they could live upstairs," said Rose Nouri, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker.

She said the property is priced at $65,000 cash, or best offer. Annual property taxes are about $850.

Whether the 3,264-square-foot building serves a purpose that's residential or commercial or a mix of both, it will need a lot of work inside.

Built in 1872, the structure on the northwest corner of East 12th and Ash streets was known for decades as Ash Street Pub. That establishment closed in 2012. According to Erie County property records, the site was purchased in 2019 by Curry Point LLC, which Nouri said operated a food truck from it.

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She said the location is prime for a business although the lack of off-street parking might make the building better suited for a takeout place.

This is the main downstairs room of the property at 560 E. 12th St. that was formerly known as the Ash Street Pub and was later the base for the Curry Point food truck. The real estate listing identifies the ceiling as being copper.
This is the main downstairs room of the property at 560 E. 12th St. that was formerly known as the Ash Street Pub and was later the base for the Curry Point food truck. The real estate listing identifies the ceiling as being copper.

The downstairs has a large front room, the one with the copper ceiling, that also has three tables with booth-style seating. There's a smaller room to the side with a floor that slants slightly and a full bathroom off the main room. Behind that are two smaller rooms, one with a refrigerator and a couple freezers, and two even smaller kitchen areas. All would require a lot of elbow grease to clean them up.

A living room is located on the second floor of 560 E. 12th St., which also has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. A third bathroom is located downstairs in the commercial space.
A living room is located on the second floor of 560 E. 12th St., which also has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. A third bathroom is located downstairs in the commercial space.

The staircase with red steps and walls leads to a small landing with a washer and dryer next to a full bathroom with a clawfoot tub. One bedroom has a small bathroom off it and three smaller bedrooms are painted in various shades of purple. The second floor also has a small kitchen and a red-trimmed living room with a smaller room off to the side that is light purple with red trim and a wallpaper border featuring birds like cardinals. Scattered throughout are abandoned toys, utensils and household decorations.

"It comes with everything," Nouri said.

One of the second-floor bedrooms is shown inside 560 E. 12th St.
One of the second-floor bedrooms is shown inside 560 E. 12th St.

There is a basement but no attic.

The mural on the outside, titled "Joy," bears the year 2022 and the name Ana Balcazar. According to the website for Peruvian visual artist Anna Balcazar Bartra, the work was a "purposeful placemaking project" done through Erie Arts & Culture. That project aimed to curate and commission 50 murals along the United Way of Erie County's Safer Walking Routes for children attending Erie's public schools.

This property at 560 E. 12th St. was formerly known as the Ash Street Pub and was later the base for a food truck. Its outside was painted in 2022 as part of a public art mural project.
This property at 560 E. 12th St. was formerly known as the Ash Street Pub and was later the base for a food truck. Its outside was painted in 2022 as part of a public art mural project.

In the artist statement on her website, she wrote: "I wanted to bring beauty and meaning to the community with my mural. My goal was to illustrate something that would make people smile."

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The artist also said she wanted to empower kids to dream about their future and to represent the diversity in the neighborhood, which includes many refugees.

Dana Massing can be reached at dmassing@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie property bursts with color from mural outside, needs work inside