May 2026.
After visiting Westerville recently, I had some spare time and decided to travel back to Newark to retake some photos. I did this for several reasons, in large part due to the fact that the Home Building Association Bank (designed by Louis Sullivan) was closed for renovations when I first visited in January 2025, but has since reopened. I also wasn’t satisfied with my cursory coverage of downtown and the poor weather that day. I didn’t seek out to redo everything, just bolster what existing photos I had, and get more of some more notable buildings. For these specific posts that revisit a building which had its own post already, I’ll skip the history and dive straight into the photos part. If you want to read about the Home Building Association Bank’s history, you can read my first post here.
Photos
I started with a much better-lit shot free of construction equipment:
The adjacent brick building has been modified to serve as offices and another entrance to the bank.
Nicely-lit south facade:
Zoomed in on the central rectangle:
Without fencing, cranes, and cherry pickers in the way, I was able to get some detail shots that weren't available to me before. Here is the ubiquitous lion holding a shield:
Never noticed these before--little lion spigots in the window frames:
I love the way light and shadow plays with this ornamentation. Remember, the weather was super cloudy when I was there last, so these effects weren’t visible to me at the time.
Ornamental cluster that caps off the “HOME BUILDING ASSOCIATION COMPANY” mosaic:
Note the ornamental border along the edges:
A similar but larger design along the edge of the whole building:
The interior of the bank has been partially restored. The teller areas, which were removed during the 1940s or 1950s, are still missing, but the frescoes and windows have been brought back to their original glory:
Now that it is owned by the Licking County Foundation, it seems to be used as a combined art gallery and building museum. This first picture looks down the centerline of the room, hence why the displays are misaligned. I’ll get into that shortly.
This shot is directly in front of the entrance, looking towards the west end:
The black marble floors and wainscoting are original, but the matte black and gray flooring is not. The lady working informed me that the lines indicate where the teller booths used to be. The art displays are aligned with the center of the teller booths, which is inevitably off-center with the entire building.
Slightly overexposed view on the other end:
The original bank vault is intact (probably because it was too large and difficult to remove):
Looking up at the coffered ceiling and frescoes:
The entrance has been completely restored to its alignment with 3rd Street. In the 1940s, it was replaced with a diagonal Art Moderne entrance.
Corner of the two frescoes:
These use Sullivan’s typical highly elaborate, geometric ornamentation, but their polychromy and flatness is unique given that much of his ornament was terra-cotta and cast-iron exterior accents. Sullivan included frescoes on several buildings, most notably the since-demolished Chicago Stock Exchange Building’s trading room, but many have been painted over or altered.
Instead of the typical repeating design, the center of the long end has a large triangle and some unique details:
The ceiling has similar designs in the coffers:
Uniquely, the little alcove right next to the entrance has a barrel-vaulted ceiling with a different ornamental scheme:
The upper windows are operable, which was pretty unexpected given their mullion-less appearance on the exterior. They have a crank mechanism that opens them all at once:
This view is better exposed and includes the intact fresco between the two windows:
Sullivan designed the furniture for the bank, too, which I’m surprised is still in place. Frank Lloyd Wright is probably best known for designing unique furniture for every house he built, and this furniture was often sold or removed by later owners. (Of course, Wright was a draftsman for Sullivan’s firm, and Wright owes a great deal of influence to Sullivan’s work.)
Interestingly, this copper cupola was removed from the roof during the restoration and moved to the east end of Courthouse Square:
I never would have known what it was from without this interpretive plaque. I know they’re controversial, but I think they’re a good way for the general public to quickly learn a bit of history and encourage them to dive in more.
What a gorgeous restoration. I’m glad Licking County has been so faithful to this amazing building’s history, and it should remain the jewel of Courthouse Square for years to come.
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