Local history: The architects who helped shape Newark

When driving around town, have you ever found yourself admiring a great house or well-designed building?

What we are looking at is the result of an architect’s imagination (along with some input from the owners, of course).

The same idea applies to a commercial or government building, only there are more people to provide insight, which can be good or bad.

George Ball Jr. probably had the most architectural influence on local home building starting in about 1915, even though he had no formal training.

His early designs seem to favor stucco, as he went from Colonial Revival, to Dutch Colonial, and finally to Spanish Colonial. He is credited with twenty-eight complete home designs, but figured in close to one hundred commissions including alterations and additions.

He passed away in 1954 and it has become a point of pride for people to say “I live in a George Ball home.”

Architect Orville Varasso came on the scene a little later; while he designed some very nice homes, his primary contribution was in commercial and government buildings.

Two of his earlier major projects were the Moundbuilders Country Club and the Colonial Shopping Center.

His projects varied: two fire stations in Heath, three churches (including the First Baptist on Granville Road), three libraries (Homer, Alexandria, and Pataskala), Egan Funeral Home, and the Glass Bottle Blowers building on Hudson Avenue.

After that, the projects got bigger: Heath Municipal building, the Ohio Power building on Hopewell Drive, the Licking County Administration building, and the Muskingham Area Technical College on Route 146.

In about 1990, Wachtel and McAnally took over his business and designed an attractive and functional Main Public Library at Fifth and Main.

The Newark City Hall was built in 1967 with Blum and Sedden as the architects; Blum, having worked for Joseph Baker for four years, felt his influence and designed a more modern building with the police station in the basement.

While the public was not accustomed to such a modern building, you can rest assured that the architect was following the wishes of the city administration at the time.

Jerry Satterfield is a life-long Newark resident, retired from Rockwell, and volunteers for the Licking County Historical Society.

Next week’s question

When did a Newark postman help solve a crime?