Restoration of Licking County Courthouse – West Courtroom Completed

RKA is celebrating the completion of the Licking County Courthouse – West Court Restoration. Our team was initially commissioned back in 2015 to analyze the existing conditions of the Neoclassical plaster ornamentation, scagliola, associated wall and ceiling murals, bas-reliefs, busts, and stained-glass.  In 2023, we were retained by the Licking County Commissioners to move forward with the restoration project.

To see more information: https://www.rogerskrajnak.com/community/2023/001-Licking-County-Courthouse.htm

Licking County Courthouse West Courtroom Restoration Rededication

 Along with the Licking County Commissioners, Judges, Courthouse Staff, Community Leaders, Artisans, and Contractors, Rogers Krajnak Architects recently celebrated the Restoration Rededication of the historic West Courtroom in the 1876 Licking County Courthouse.  We were honored to lead the team that restored the murals, sculptures, bas reliefs, stained glass, cast plaster, and scagliola in this magnificent room. The Project also included new lighting, new floor finishes, restoration of furnishings and Judge’s Bench, and audio-visual technology.

To learn more about the study that lead to this project, click on the following link:

https://www.rogerskrajnak.com/community/2015/002-Licking-County-Courthouse.htm

Progress on Louis Sullivan Bank Project

 RKA’s Project for the restoration of Louis Sullivan’s historic “Jewel Box” bank building in Newark Ohio is featured in this article in The Architect’s Newspaper.  With the exterior restoration already completed, the interior restoration is underway.

To read more about this news article and the project. Click on the following links below:

News Article: Rogers Krajnak Architects to restore interiors and murals in bank by Louis Sullivan in Ohio (archpaper.com)

Project: Louis Sullivan Building in Newark

Courtroom Restoration Mock-ups

 Progress is underway on the creation of a full-scale mock-up of the proposed decorative finishes concept for the interior restoration of the Historic West Courtroom in the Licking County Courthouse.  Our Design Team studied options for the illumination of the interior dome including on-site mockups with a variety of proposed lighting fixtures.

Check out more on our website: https://www.rogerskrajnak.com/community/2015/002-Licking-County-Courthouse.htm

Licking County Courthouse - West Courtroom Restoration

The Licking County Commissioners have retained Rogers Krajnak Architects for the design of the restoration of the West Courtroom in the Historic 1876 Licking County Courthouse in Newark, Ohio.  The project will include plaster repair, restoration of the murals, scagliola, historic light fixtures, finishes and furnishings, updates to the Judge’s chambers, and the integration of new lighting, AV, and HVAC systems.  RKA completed an initial Study for this restoration project in 2016.

 

Resurrected

RKA is featured in the December 2017 issue of Columbus CEO article about “Old churches find new uses in creative renovations”.  The following is excerpted from that article:

The sheer size of some sanctuaries can make them difficult to repurpose, says Peter Krajnak of the Rogers Krajnak Architects Inc. firm in Downtown Columbus. “The key is to find the right scale for the potential future use,” says Krajnak, a specialist in the design, expansion and renovation of churches. “So many spaces are so cavernous they become difficult to illuminate and to provide proper climate control.” That can make redeveloping a property for residential particularly difficult and expensive.

Krajnak said sanctuaries also are designed to carry sound well. “To create a quiet space can be a challenge,” he says.

Krajnak will not have to figure out how to mitigate that aspect of the sanctuary of the Central Presbyterian Church at 132 S. Third St. as a consultant to performance arts venue operator CAPA. The nonprofit bought the property for $589,000 in June 2013 as a future concert hall.

CAPA, the owner/operator of the venerable Palace Theatre and Ohio Theatre Downtown, bought the property about 19 months after the congregation ceased worshipping in the building, the original use dating back to 1857.

CAPA CEO Chad Whittington says the arts organization has yet to ask designers to put together a detailed plan for the property as it first concentrates on fundraising for the 2018 renovation projects at the Ohio and Palace. “It’s important to have a good plan in place,” Whittington says, comparing the venue to the Southern Theatre restoration and renovation completed in the late 1990s.


The former church will, after eventual renovations, have seating for up to 400. “The structure itself is set up very well for how we operate in the performing arts arena,” Whittington says. “We can take the hall (sanctuary) and freshen it up for use in smaller concerts and recitals.”

Licking County Courthouse Restoration of West Courtroom

Rogers Krajnak Architects has completed the study for the restoration of the West Courtroom in the historic Licking County Courthouse which was originally constructed in 1876.  RKA lead a team of specialists including Conrad Schmitt Studios and CS Construction in analyzing the existing conditions, and determining the process and cost estimate for cleaning, conserving or restoring the murals, bas reliefs, busts, plaster ornamentation, faux finishes and stained glass.  The original beauty of the room has been obscured by over a century of dirt and grime building up on the interior of the ornate courtroom.  Through a process of careful exposures and core samples, the team discovered that the original finishes of the room included warmer colors, glazing and gold detailing.  These images show various exposures of original finishes and a rendering of the proposed restored courtroom.