Jeannette tradesman recreates original moulding for 1889 Greensburg building

A Jeannette tradesman is bringing a 130-year-old Greensburg building up to speed on its past.

When Doug Davis is done with his dusty work, the Ameriprise Financial Services building on West Otterman Street will have the same decorative moulding throughout. A couple months into the project and it’s hard to tell what was original to the 1889 building and what Davis has created out of plaster.

“Now everything’s going to match to what was originally there,” said Tim Henry, building owner and private wealth advisor with The Henry Group.

It’s been a painstaking process for Davis, owner of The Painter’s Plus of Greensburg. First, he made molds of the original moulding at the building that housed Greensburg Granite and Marbleworks in the early 1900s.

Then, he poured plaster into the molds back at his Jeannette shop, which also is home to The Glass City, and let them dry. Over the last couple weeks, he started installing the pieces which are exact replicas of the originals.

After Henry bought the building almost 15 years ago, he added on office space but didn’t get to extending the moulding work in the new rooms right away. Over the years, he kept an eye out for someone to do the work before stumbling on Davis. Keeping the historic aesthetic in the building was important, Henry said.

“A lot of people erase it and want to start over new,” he said. “When you walk in the office, it looks like it was always here.”

Davis made banner moulding, crown moulding, columns, capitals and medallions to go around ceiling light fixtures. He’s been doing that type of work for 20 years.

On Monday, he was sanding banner pieces in the entryway. He expects to be working on the project through the end of the month.

“Nobody wants to learn,” he said of the trade. “It’s just hard to get somebody under the age of 35 interested in it.”

“This will outlast me, as long as this building’s here that will be here,” he said pointing at the new pieces in the entryway. “Usually, I have to travel out of town for this.”

The office’s walls and floor has been protected from the dust by clear plastic sheeting and drop cloths. After the pieces are in place, Davis will get to work painting.

“It’s a process, but I’m glad that I was able to find Doug,” Henry said.