In pictures of old downtown Altoona, one can see the Gables building — ornate, with window after window, awnings on the ground floor, cornice at the top, horizontal lines, vertical lines, curving lines, big shapes and small ones, masonry, glass, divisions between all the stories — exquisite detail that draws the eye to roam and examine and appreciate.

Since 1972, that same building, occupying three-quarters of the square block between 11th and 12th avenues and 13th and 14th streets, has been encased in nearly monolithic brick, with a lack of detail.

The partnership that owns the building, which houses 26 businesses with 184 employees, has applied for a $3 million grant from the state to remove that brick, exposing the original facade to “daylight” downtown’s old anchor store, in keeping with a modern aesthetic that has taken hold across the country and in Altoona.

It would be a “transformative” project, Steve McKnight, Altoona-Blair County Develop­ment Corp. president and CEO, said.

Because of the 1972 facade, the current structure is “like a tomb,” McKnight said.

Except in some areas of the ground floor, no natural light penetrates inside, he said.

With exposure of the original facade, there would be lots of daylight within, plus access to the interesting, busy, original facade outside, all of it combining to create an environment “that people want to be in,” McKnight said.

The original Gables owner sold the store to L.S. Good, an out-of-town firm that added the brick facade “to compete with suburbia,” according to Maurice A. Lawruk, grandson of Maury Lawruk, a partner in the current ownership group, and McKnight.

Downtown business owners at that time felt they needed to keep up with the times “to counteract the exodus to the malls,” said John Rita, a local artist who has been helping his cousin Jimmy Colombo restore the original facade of the much smaller Flower Shoppe building next to Gables.

In the early 1970s, the “vast facade” of brick that workers laid to cover up the original skin of Gables would have seemed up-to-date — but now, it seems “passe,” Rita said.

Judging by the current proliferation of restoration plans like the ones for Gables and the Flower Shoppe, it seems the old aesthetic has proven its staying power, he said.

Happily, the 1972 workers didn’t destroy that original facade, Rita said.

Similarly, 1970s-era workers who remodeled Courtroom No. 2 in the Blair County Courthouse also didn’t destroy the original decor, said Rita, who has been working on a restoration.

“Maybe there was enough foresight,” Rita said. “It’s almost as if (they said to themselves), ‘If we ever get sick and tired of this, we haven’t really wrecked what is there.'”

There is a space of about 2 feet between the inner and outer skins of the Gables building, said Lawruk, who has peeked at the original through the old windows, with the aid of a flashlight.

Exposing the old facade will be like opening a “time capsule,” said Steve Gardner, vice president of leasing and development for Lawruk Realty.

Daylighting Gables was one of the recommendations of a consultant who examined downtown in the 1990s, Rita said.

The 1972 owners installed the facade not only to compete with the mall, but also to reduce maintenance and energy leakage, according to Lawruk and Gardner.

The old windows, glazing and frames would have required regular attention, and it wouldn’t have been easy to reach them on the upper floors, they said.

By contrast, the brick is virtually maintenance-free, Lawruk said.

The new windows that would be installed if the partnership can execute the project would require far less maintenance and be far more energy-efficient than those old windows, Lawruk and Gardner said.

The grant would cover the cost of the daylighting project, but the partnership has agreed to match the grant money for the remodeling that would follow “as interest in the building is secured,” according to McKnight and a news release.

The state’s Redevelop­ment Assistance Capital Program is competitive, but the partnership has a project that can compete, because of the potential benefits, McKnight said.

In helping a key downtown building to reach its full potential, the grant could create many jobs, he said.

Daylighting is a “proven strategy” that has already begun to work in Altoona, Rita said.

If it happens, “it obviously changes the whole makeup down there,” Rita said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.