A little dusting here, a little gold leaf there, and the next thing you know, the former Home Building Association building on the corner of Main and 3rd streets will be ready to reopen to the public – restored to its 1914 grandeur.
For such a small space in downtown Newark, the building now known as the Sullivan Building offers so much to absorb – the history, the artistry and the chemistry involved in restoring a local landmark on Courthouse Square that some see as a national treasure.
The chemistry, Connie Hawk will tell you, is visible in the way that artists, craftsmen and workers in the building trades have come together like a well-tuned orchestra during the past decade to restore that which was still intact and replace that which had been removed or damaged beyond repair.
It’s also seen in the generosity of Licking County residents who have opened their hearts and wallets to support the $14.1 million project to bring the “jewel box” bank designed by renowned architect Louis Sullivan building back to life, said Hawk, who has led the restoration project for the past decade.
And soon local residents – and visitors from far and wide – will have the opportunity to take a good look at the artwork and history they helped save when the building reopens at noon on Monday, Oct. 27, to serve as the headquarters for Explore Licking County.
“It’s such a good story to tell,” said Dan Moder, executive director of the travel and tourism office, as he recently watched workers applying some finishing touches to the former banking room. “It’s the ultimate testament to the community support.”
The story starts with the building and will go far beyond it. Janice LoRaso, director of programs for Explore Licking County, said she has programs planned for 12:15 p.m. each day the week of Oct. 27 to introduce residents and visitors to the building and sights across the county.
Inside the building, they will see cleaned and restored murals. Some of them appear a bit mottled because, in a purist restoration effort, the artists did not attempt to make the murals look brand new. Instead, in places where small bits had flaked off, they used a neutral tan to fill the gaps and signal that something is missing.
On walls where entire sections of mural had been removed or destroyed by previous owners, the artists created new murals that look very much like the originals depicted in photos and drawings.
After the bank closed, the building was home to other businesses, including a jewelry store and an ice-cream parlor. And their presence resulted in changes – a ceiling lowered, light fixtures removed, doors cut into walls and through some of those original works of art.
Among the final projects being completed in recent weeks by general contractor Danis Construction of Columbus and subcontractors was the installation of an elevator that essentially fills a small, brick building adjacent to and now connected to the Sullivan Building.
The original bank building had an elevator, but it wasn’t for people. It was for cash.
The focal point in the old bank – and in the restored building – is an ornate Diebold safe about the size of a half bath. “It’s absolutely gorgeous,” Hawk said, and it exudes safety and security – but for extra protection, cash in the vault was lowered daily to a concrete bunker in the basement.
As she surveyed the room, Hawk noted the recent repairs and a few replacement pieces in the marbled serpentine stone slabs that line the lower portion of the walls. She was eager to see the new overhead lights that would soon be installed. They are exact replicas of the originals.
And Hawk was excited about the replacement plaster crown molding that would soon receive a glistening gold-leaf finish from the staff of Conrad Schmitt Studios, of New Berlin, Wisconsin, which did similar work across the street in the ornate West Courtroom of the Licking County Courthouse.
| Read more: Luster returns to a historic gem on Newark’s Courthouse Square
And when Explore Licking County opens its doors in October, it will have plenty to show tourists – starting just outside its windows.
Restoration of the Licking County Courthouse, the restoration of the nearby Midland Theatre in the 1990s, and the $20 million restoration of The Arcade, a historic indoor shopping center a few doors up 3rd Street from the Old Home building, add to the critical mass of downtown attractions.
And the nearby Newark Earthworks being named a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage site – a distinction on par with the pyramids in Egypt, the Great Wall of China and Stonehenge – is drawing tourists from around the world.
A big part of Licking County’s future resides in the preservation and celebration of its past, and soon, Hawk likes to say, a tourist’s journey through history, art and culture will start in a jewel box at the corner of 3rd and Main streets.
Alan Miller writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.