Man-sized ceiling fans hanging from decorative steel beams that support the glass roof sent the smell of fresh paint throughout The Arcade in downtown Newark this week.
Work crews scurried to clean and polish the 116-year-old indoor shopping center that has undergone a $20 million renovation during the past three years. Another team was touching up the original terrazzo floor ahead of the historic building’s public debut on Friday.
The Arcade, which stretches a full city block between 3rd and 4th streets, just northwest of the renovated Licking County Courthouse and a few doors north of the historic Sullivan Building, is the latest gem in a ring of renovated buildings around Courthouse Square.
And from 4-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7, the Arcade will host its first public event – the first-ever indoor winter farmers’ market organized by the Canal Market District, which hosts an outdoor market south of the courthouse during warmer months. The Arcade will host the market on Fridays through April.
| Read more: Renovation breathes new life into historic Arcade, adds housing units and enhances downtown Newark business district
“It’s a really great feeling to get The Arcade back to what it was in 1909 – a community center for everyone to enjoy,” said Megan Ernest, administrative manager for Newark Development Partners. “We’re grateful for the donors who have helped get it renovated and back open.”
The building, which was one of eight glass-topped, enclosed shopping centers in Ohio in the early 1900s, is one of only four remaining. They were a forerunner of the shopping mall, with shops and restaurants lining a corridor in a climate-controlled, indoor space.
Newark’s Arcade had fallen into such disrepair in recent years that was considered unsafe and perhaps destined for demolition. But the Newark Development Partners bought the building in 2019 and began making plans and raising funds for a historic renovation project that would revive it.
The organization is also building a new multi-deck parking garage a block away on South 4th Street – the second parking garage in downtown Newark – to support the growing customer base for businesses in the downtown historic district.
The Arcade renovation took longer than expected and cost more than anticipated because of the many surprises the construction crews found along the way – some related to structural integrity that slowed the work and added to the cost.
| Read more: Renovated historic Newark Arcade to host Canal Market indoor winter market: Meet some of the vendors
When it opens Friday, it will be home to 16 businesses. There are spaces for 24 shops in The Arcade, but some businesses are leasing more than one space, and some spaces are still being filled. An Italian restaurant slated to open this summer is taking five spaces. And two more spaces are reserved for another restaurant in one of the storefronts on 3rd Street.
When full, the spaces will offer shoppers everything from t-shirts to vintage clothing, and from coffee to ice cream – with a book store, dance studio and electronics repair shop in between.
Finishing touches were being applied to the Arcade’s 3rd Street entrance this week. 
The Arcade, at 31 N. 3rd St., in downtown Newark will debut on Friday, Feb. 7, when it hosts the Canal Market indoor farmers’ market. 
The Ohio TRUE clothing store is one of 16 opening in The Arcade in 2025. 
The Archive Bottle Shop & Lounge is one of the businesses ready to open soon in The Arcade. 
The Arcade has been under renovation for several years. This is how the main corridor looked a year ago. 
The lights are on and the glass-topped main corridor of the renovated Arcade is nearly ready for its debut on Feb. 7. 
The stylized Arcade logo directs guests to apartments on the upper floors. 
Two of the 17 apartments in the south, east and west wings of The Arcade are furnished and will be short-term rentals. 
A kitchen in one of the Arcade’s short-term rentals is ready for overnight guests. 
A bedroom in one of the short-term rentals looks out over the glass roof over the Arcade’s main corridor. 
Floor tile and other features in The Arcade apartments are designed to retain the character of an early 1900s building. 
The 4th Street entrance to The Arcade boasts shops on the first floor and efficiency apartments above. 
The original tile at the 4th Street entrance welcomes shoppers to The Arcade. 
The Dance Joy Studios will open soon next to the 4th Street entrance to The Arcade. 
The South Entrance to The Arcade faces W. Main Street, behind City Hall, and a block away from a new parking garage under construction. 
Tiles in The Arcade’s south corridor bear the names of donors who pledged more than $12 million toward the $20 million project. 
A mural being painted on the south wall of The Arcade recalls the dances that were held in the main corridor in the early 1900s. 
A new parking garage being built by Newark Development Partners will help support the growing customer base for downtown businesses.
Tenants opening this month include The Archive, Ball Hill, Damaged Image, Dance Joy Studios, Lady Monarch, Licking County Arts, Martha’s Bath & Body, OhioTRUE, and the Phone Doctor of Newark. Opening this spring will be Beauty Bar 781, Downtown Ice Cream Parlor, Holland’s Book Nook, Image Salon, Marketing & Main, and Vintage Grind Coffee. And coming this summer are Fantuzzo’s Italian restaurant and a second restaurant.
Upstairs, 17 newly renovated apartments and two furnished, short-term rental units for tourists and other visitors are available for rent.
The loft apartments are one-bedroom, one-bathroom efficiencies, each with a kitchen and a living room. Many have original hardwood floors and other features retained from the original structure to maintain the historic character of the building.
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.