New owner recreates former Latrobe bakery's all-wood facade, proposes rebirth as cafe

Yesterday’s views are new again on Latrobe’s Main Street.

Motorists and pedestrians who look left as they travel northeast on the street will see the restored, ornate facade of the 1890 Mozart Hall, bracketed by twin onion domes.

To the right, work is underway on recapturing the past glory of another landmark building that arrived in town during the same era — the home for many years of Mailey’s Bakery, at 335 Main St.

Nonprofit human services organization Faith Forward Ministries, which owns the Mozart building, tapped a local foundation grant, with the help of the Latrobe Community Revitalization Program, to rejuvenate its exterior with fresh paint and repointed bricks.

While new owner John Baran is paying for the Mailey’s building makeover, he’s similarly turned to the revitalization program for input in bringing the structure back to its long-ago look.

“We originally thought about making it into apartments,” said Baran, a Latrobe native who has added the building to his holdings through Latrobe Property Management.

But, after seeing a conceptual sketch of a restored period facade presented by LCRP Executive Director Jarod Trunzo and prepared by the organization’s lead design consultant, Steven Patricia, Baran now is leaning toward welcoming the public back into the building, in a proposed cafe and deli that could evolve into a full-blown restaurant.

“(Trunzo) showed me a rendition of what they were thinking of, and now we’re off and running with it,” Baran said. “We wanted to really jump on it as quickly as we could.”

Stripping away modern siding, Baran uncovered the original wooden facade that stretches up to the attic of the 2 1/2-story building.

In the late 19th century, Trunzo noted, it was more common for buildings in American downtowns to have fabricated metal facades on their upper stories — as is the case with the Mozart Hall.

“At that time period, everyone was ordering them from a magazine,” Trunzo said. “That’s not typical to have the entire second- and third-story elevations of wood. That was a really cool thing.”

With many of the original wooden facade accents missing or incomplete, carpenter Jason Gunther of Derry, who operates Gunther Services, has used remaining impressions they left behind as guides in reconstructing the detailing.

“It’s extremely close to the original,” Trunzo said. “It’s what’s there that can be preserved.”

Gunther has painted the facade’s raised designs in dark green, accentuating them against a cream background. The Mozart Hall boasts a color scheme that is not dissimilar.

Trunzo explained the green shade was commonly in use during the period because the dust that collected from early street traffic was less noticeable than with other hues.

With the exterior painting completed, Baran this week was waiting for the arrival of awnings to provide a finishing touch on the facade. Permits are pending before extensive renovations begin inside the building.

A stamped tin ceiling over the former kitchen and a tile floor accent that extends out to the front stoop are among details remaining from Mailey’s Bakery.

According to research by Latrobe Area Historical Society President Mary Lou Townsend, the building in 1894 housed a general grocery and produce store operated by E. A. Riddell. The following year, the property was purchased by German immigrant J. A. Maier, who moved his Latrobe bakery there from a previous location at 711 Ligonier St.

Maier’s nephew, John Gottlieb Mailey, operated the bakery, taking over as proprietor from 1905 until his retirement in 1948. His sons John A. and George Mailey operated it for another two decades, followed later by Richard Duncan and manager “Butch” Burkey.

In the 1950s and 1960s, doughnuts were a favorite treat at the bakery, also marketed through local restaurants and grocery stores. Cream puffs, another best-selling confection, eventually were discontinued because they became too expensive to make.

Baran said he is open to leasing the former bakery storefront for other uses but has envisioned its rebirth as a cafe and deli.

Despite the challenges pandemic-related restrictions have presented for many eating establishments in the region, Baran said, “It looks like things are picking up here, so we decided we’d gamble and go ahead. Latrobe is making steps forward in the right direction.”

“I don’t think we’ve been hit as hard as malls or big cities,” Trunzo said of Latrobe. “People are still making improvements, which is a good sign of life.”