January 2025.
I saved the best for last…some of Newark’s most interesting architecture (both extant and demolished) is in this area, and this’ll be a longer one as a result. However, I ended up missing a bunch of it by accident. I’ll start along West Main Street, and the final part will proceed north and west from there.
14 West Main Street [missed]
June 2018 Google Maps capture of 14 West Main Street. The facade isn’t in great repair, but it still should have been salvageable.
This is a very rare case where I actually believe a building should not have been restored to its original facade and rather should have maintained its later alterations. 14 West Main Street is part of a larger block of three identical two-story buildings immediately west of the Home Building Association Bank. These structures were built circa 1910, and they are rather bare, their ornamentation confined to recessed brick panels above the second-floor windows (hence why I skipped them). However, 14 West Main Street, the westernmost of the three, used to sport a much more interesting Art Deco facade. The smooth black walls contrasted excellently with the textured glass blocks, and the streamlined appearance was very compelling.
My picture of the Home Building Association Bank’s context as of January 2025, which features the three buildings in the middle.
For reasons beyond my understanding, this more elaborate facade was removed between 2018 and 2021, and the original brick is exposed once again. Why this building in particular was chosen is beyond me, because Newark has much more interesting facades concealed behind much uglier ones. (The old Park National Bank building’s Beaux-Arts facade hidden behind a bare Modernist one comes to mind.)
16 West Main Street/Sparta Restaurant [missed]
16 West Main Street prior to its renovation, via a Google Maps capture in August 2015. Note the boarded-up windows.
Don’t even ask me how I missed this one. I could have sworn I took a picture of it, but it has either gone missing or I didn’t in the first place. Maybe I (mistakenly) thought the picture of it in the background of the Home Building Association Bank was good enough.
16 West Main Street probably dates to c. 1900. Its elaborate brickwork and ornamentation makes it stick out from its neighbors. It housed the Sparta Restaurant from the mid-century era until recently. Its facade was altered with a typical neon sign from that period, and the storefronts were replaced.
16 West Main Street in April 2023, which is identical to how it appears today. (Google Maps)
Between 2015 and 2018, the building was restored. Its windows were replaced with contemporary black-tinted ones, the storefront was replaced with a more period-correct one, the cornice and details were repainted, and the masonry was cleaned.
Newark Opera House [demolished]
The Newark Opera House c. 1920. (Newark’s Lost Buildings)
Newark’s first theater was the Newark Opera House, which was built in 1865 by George Wallace. It had an opera house upstairs and commercial space below. The building stood until 1957, where a drive-up window for the Newark Trust Bank was installed.
Arcade Hotel [demolished]
These next three buildings were demolished in the early 1960s for the construction of the current Newark City Building.
The Arcade Hotel, at left. (Newark’s Lost Buildings)
The Arcade Hotel was a hotel annex of the still-extant Newark Arcade. It seemed to be Renaissance/Romanesque Revival in style, and was probably built c. 1880-1890.
Schaller Block [demolished]
A man prepares to walk on a tightrope down from the roof of the Schaller Block. (Newark’s Lost Buildings)
The Beaux-Arts Schaller Block was built in 1912, as indicated on the cornice. Its white materiality contrasted with its neighbors. The Newark’s Lost Buildings video didn’t mention anything about its neighbor, which is regrettable, because the cornice and pinnacles were pretty cool.
Central Fire Station/Old City Hall [demolished]
A postcard of the old fire station. (Newark’s Lost Buildings)
Much older than its neighbors, the Spanish Revival Central Fire Station stood where City Hall does now. It was built in 1853 as a market house, but the city’s offices moved in shortly afterwards, and they soon took over the whole building.
The fire station c. 1958. (Newark’s Lost Buildings)
By the 1950s, the building was heavily altered. Its towers were removed and the original doors were widened. The city had outgrown the space, and it was demolished in the 1960s for the construction of the current Newark City Building.
Newark City Building/City Hall
A postcard of the Newark City Building as it originally appeared.
The Newark City Building was built as a replacement for Newark’s older city hall, and it also replaced older buildings on the site like the Arcade Hotel. It was designed by the firm Blum and Sedden and was built in 1967. The third floor of the building is a later alteration in the Brutalist style.
My photo of Boston City Hall from a trip in summer 2024--stay tuned…
The Newark City Building’s current Brutalist design is very obviously influenced by Boston’s City Hall, which was built four years earlier. The cantilevered fourth floor and ribbon windows bordered by brise-soleils are the most obvious hallmarks to me, as well as how the building telescopes upwards.
25 West Main Street [demolished]
A capture of the building in August 2015. Note the sooty masonry and crumbling stucco.
This building was a three-story Victorian commercial building that had a facadectomy in the 1950s. Though the building was non-contributing to the downtown historic district, the NRHP summary brutally describes these renovations as “excessive modern alterations that do not possess unique, stylistic tendencies.” [sic] It also had a small arched entrance to the east, which was probably the only unaltered part of the facade. 25 W Main Street was demolished between 2015 and 2018 for a parking lot, likely due to its age and loss of architectural significance.
33 West Main Street
This Art Deco building was built in 1929 as a department store. A large five-bay building, it likely replaced earlier Victorian-era structures on the site. Its east side was clad in metal following the demolition of its neighbor, 25 West Main Street.
I like the elaborate terra-cotta ornament along the roofline, as well as the subtle pilasters. Otherwise, the building is pretty bare, owing to Art Deco’s existence as a precursor to the Modern movement.
Odd Fellows’ Building [missed]
I didn’t proceed along West Main Street beyond 4th Street. From my vantage point, the buildings I saw were uninteresting and heavily altered. However, I missed several interesting works of architecture further west. First is the Odd Fellows’ Building, a late example of Beaux-Arts architecture built in 1928. It has had quite the journey since its earliest Google Maps appearance in 2007.
The Odd Fellows’ Building in April 2012 as a tire shop. Note the boarded-up windows. (Google Maps)
The building looked pretty shoddy by the time Google Maps first captured it. The first floor was heavily altered, with modern doors, windows, and a garage door existing where the original storefront did. Additionally, the massive MR. TIRE sign obscured the vaulted transom above the middle door.
A June 2018 capture of the Odd Fellows’ Building. (Google Maps)
The building was vacant as of September 2016, but at this time new windows were installed and the gaudy sign was removed. Things were starting to look better for the Odd Fellows’ Building…
The Odd Fellows’ Building as of Google Maps’ most recent April 2023 capture.
…and they lost it. I’m glad the building is being used now, but its renovation is extremely tacky. The painted masonry does not match the character of the building. The pedimented door being left alone makes it stick out in a bad way, whereas in the past it harmonized with the base. I thought the windows were replaced, too, but upon closer inspection they appear to be the same ones, just painted black.
Florantina Building [missed]
Unlike its neighbor, this building has been left relatively unscathed. The Florantina Building was built in 1906 as an apartment building. Largely vernacular in style, it sports vaulted third-floor windows and Ionic pilasters separating the front three bays. The building appears to have had its cornice removed at some point. A small stone panel with the building’s name and date of construction is set into the middle of the facade.
Newark Pharmacy/Sam Alban Furniture Co./Mazer Building
This is a highly altered, probably Victorian-era building on the south side of West Main Street. I thought its overlapping painted signs were interesting.
Avalon Building [demolished]
An early photo of the Avalon Building. The tower in the background belongs to Newark’s old high school. (Haunted Newark Walking Tour)
I’m really sad that I didn’t see this one before its demolition--I think it was one of Newark’s most interesting works of architecture. (However, I only just found out this was the case. I thought I had just missed it since I didn’t walk that far west on Main Street.)
The Avalon Building was built c. 1900 by Alva Wilcox. Newark’s walking tour claims the building was in the Second Empire style, which is obviously incorrect--it appears more Queen Anne with Romanesque Revival elements to me. It had a wood frame (this is important later) with a facade that featured wood turrets, masonry arches, and brick walls.
In 1908, soon after the building’s construction, a young woman named Eugenia Wontz committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid in her apartment, as she was convinced that her husband was unfaithful. Her funeral was held inside the building, too.
The Avalon Building was slated for demolition in 1998 due to deferred maintenance and code violations, but it was renovated in 2004. This kept the building alive and kicking for the next 20 years.
The Avalon Building after its March 2024 fire. (The Reporting Project)
Unfortunately, the Avalon Building caught on fire in March 2024, possibly due to a faulty ceiling fan. Since the building was framed in wood, the fire damaged much of the structure and collapsed the roof. The agency that owned the Avalon Building wanted to restore it, but the cost was too high, so it was demolished beginning in November 2024. Two windows and several bricks were salvaged from the building.
Old Newark High School [largely demolished]
(Newark’s Lost Buildings)
The eclectic Victorian Newark High School was built c. 1889 and was supposedly designed by Joseph W. Yost, of Yost & Packard in Columbus. Its small size meant an addition was soon needed, which was built around 1908.
Old Newark High School and its addition, c. 1927-1928. (Newark’s Lost Buildings)
The addition was simpler in style, but it had similar peaked gables and brick materiality. The dome that can be seen at left is an observatory. In 1939, it was decided that the original building would be demolished to further expand the school. A new Neoclassical structure was built where the 1889 school stood.
A Google Maps capture of the remaining portion of the old Newark High School. Note the stub where it used to connect to the 1908 addition.
Newark’s high school relocated northwest of downtown during the 1960s, and the 1908 building was demolished afterwards. Today, the only portion that stands is the 1939 school building, which has been converted to apartments.
Sources:
https://www.lickingcountylibrary.org/media/1076/historic-downtown-walking-tour.pdf
https://pocketsights.com/tours/tour/Newark-Historic-Newark-Downtown-Walking-Tour-4865
https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/01001482.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbdY0OWBCEM
https://pocketsights.com/tours/tour/Newark-Haunted-Newark%3A-A-Ghostly-Walking-Tour-5999
https://www.thereportingproject.org/fire-damaged-avalon-building-in-downtown-newark-to-be-razed/
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