Lyons Drug

Lyons Drug now occupies the 1928 McCrary Building at 115 Front Street. Over the decades the facade collected additions — a canvas awning, a metal canopy, metal panels, an aluminum storefront — each one covering something older.

The rehabilitation removes the awning, the canopy, and the metal panels; cleans and restores the brick; and restores the tile below the display windows. The transom glass above the windows, boarded for years, is uncovered again, with accent lighting installed behind the new glazing. New signage revives the historic Lyons sign artwork.

Transom glass is the detail that gives a 1920s storefront its proportion — it lifts the eye above the display windows and puts light deep into the store. Covering it is the cheapest thing an owner can do and the most expensive thing to lose. Uncovering it is most of what makes the building read as itself again.