Page 34 - OmniSite Anniversary Book

WE ARE OMNISITE
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right here on-site where they made them as they were building this place,” he said. “I tried to preserve all those bricks.”
Ward’s penchant for nostalgia and his engineering mind both settle on the thick, rough-hewn beams when he speaks of his favorite part of the newly renovated building. “Without a doubt, it’s all the wooden beams. They’re
all original, except for one,” he says, explaining that just a single beam was
damaged beyond repair. So he hired a crew of Amish builders to re-create an almost identical match. “I learned that over time, the compression strength of r can be more than that of steel. Yet, people don’t build commercial buildings with wood anymore; they use steel. I just think that’s amazing.”
sturdy beams and terra cotta bricks have supported this structure for nearly 160 years. And Paddack’s research revealed that the place was purpose-built to house Ott Furniture Company—Indianapolis’ rst furniture factory.
PHOTOS: ABOVE As an ode to the building’s original occupants and history, a few Ott Furniture recovered patents are framed and hung thoughout the restored building. ADJACENT Orignal r beams and woodwork remain throughout, amid modern-industrial decor.
Now the home of OmniSite, the Visible pipes and ductwork along building itself has called the Old
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with these exposed r beams Southside neighborhood its home create visual interest and hint at this since at least 1872. That’s when
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building’s storied past. These same German immigrant John Ott
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and his son Louis Ott operated
their business — Ott Furniture Company — within it. In the late 1800s, they hauled raw timbers to this site, moving the lumber from one operation to another until the lumber transformed into a piece of ne furniture.
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