A historic “jewel box” bank building by Louis Sullivan is being restored in Newark, Ohio. The refurbishment will be led by Rogers Krajnak Architects, an office based in Columbus, Ohio.
Sullivan completed the 3-story structure overlooking Newark’s Courthouse Square for the Home Building Association Company in 1915. Informally called “The Old Home” by locals, the building is just one of eight banks Sullivan designed in his career.
The Old Home’s exterior was restored in 2020. Now, Rogers Krajnak Architects is returning to focus on its interiors.
Today, the eight bank buildings Sullivan designed later in his career are known as his “jewel boxes.” These are by far Sullivan’s smallest projects when compared to his earlier skyscrapers, but arguably his finest in their attention to detail. The Old Home in Newark, Ohio, features elaborate hand-stenciled murals by Sullivan, who died less than a decade after it was built.
After the Home Building Association Company closed, the Old Home hosted a butcher shop, a jewelry store, and then served as an ice cream parlor. Each tenant made significant alterations to the building’s interior before it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
In 2013, the building was donated by Stephen Jones, a Newark native, to the Licking County Foundation. Restoration on the bank’s exterior started in 2020, seven years later.
The Licking County Foundation, a local nonprofit, has successfully raised $2.5 million to restore the building’s interior. The largest gift came from the Jeffris Family Foundation of Wisconsin which donated $1.2 million.
This funding will finance phase three of the project which entails restoring Sullivan’s bespoke murals. It will also help pay for a future annex attached to the Sullivan building connecting its three levels with an elevator and compliant stairs.
A grand-reopening ceremony will take place August 25, 2025. After, it will host Explore Licking County, the county of Licking’s travel and tourism bureau. It will have a visitors center and community gathering space with exhibition areas, retail, and public restrooms.
