Boston Valley Is Manufacturing Terra Cotta for the Restoration of the Louis Sullivan Designed Old Home Bank in Newark, Ohio

The Old Home Bank, in Newark, Ohio is one of eight banks designed by famed American architect, Louis Sullivan. Boston Valley Terra Cotta has worked on several historic restorations of Louis Sullivan buildings, including the Gage Building in Chicago and the Guaranty Building in Buffalo. Known as a jewel box bank, The Old Home is an architectural treasure built in 1914 with bright mosaics, sculptural terra cotta and intricate detailing.

Plans for this restoration have been underway since the building was donated to the Licking County Foundation in 2013. Rogers Krajnak are the architects leading the restoration and Boston Valley Terra Cotta is working to create new masonry for the outer façade.

Currently, terra cotta masonry is being fabricated to replace elements on the weathered façade. The digital processes of our pre-design stage facilitate the creation of molds for reproduction. New masonry units are created using the hand press forming method, which is useful when recreating highly detailed masonry. The RAM Press forming method is used to create many duplicates of the same blocks.

In this process, The Old Home Bank will be brought back to its former glory after falling into disrepair for many years. Once completed, the building will be home to Explore Licking County, an organization dedicated to connecting the community and visitors to exciting happenings in area.

Note: the image used in the header is owned by the Ohio Office of Redevelopment and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attributions 2.0 Generic License.