From left, Aleks Davis, CEO of B2S Life Sciences, and Tim Showalter, president of Hoosierboy Restorations, stand next to the 1911 Chandler & Price printing press inside B2S’s Franklin headquarters. The press had been found in the basement of the B2S facility, and Showalter had restored it to working condition.
Set underneath sleek circular light fixtures and among contemporary artwork, the cast iron piece of machinery set up inside B2S Life Sciences seems out of place.
The Franklin-based business provides pharmaceutical and diagnostic biological reagents, which are used to test for chemical reactions. Their bioanalytical services and software helps the pharmaceutical industry develop drugs. But despite its focus on progress and advancement, B2S has also fostered a reverence for the past. That attitude is evidenced in its newest addition — a 1911 printing press formerly used in the company’s historic home.
“This was cutting edge at the beginning of the last century, and here we are this century, and (B2S) is cutting edge. The technology is threaded through,” said Tim Showalter, president of Hoosierboy Restorations, which redid the printing press.
After discovering the Chandler and Price printing press in its basement, B2S officials searched for a way to restore the antique machine to its former glory.
They worked with Showalter to have the press transported to his Beech Grove shop. There, the machine was cleaned, refinished, oiled and brought back to how it had looked in the early 1900s.
Now displayed in the front window of B2S’s headquarters, the printing press represents the company’s integration into the history of Franklin.
“Even though we’re a biotechnology company, which is a very new concept, different and unique to Franklin, so for us to have build a thriving and growing company, and to salvage and memorialize the history that is here, is representative of us,” said Aleks Davis, CEO for B2S Life Sciences.
When the company was looking for a home in 2016, it was drawn to historic Jarvis Alexander building at the heart of downtown Franklin. Not only was the building near Franklin College, which company officials had been partnering with, but it boasted a colorful and important local history.
Built in 1907, it had housed a carriage works for people who came into town with their carriages. The building contained a hand-drawn elevator, which workers used to hoist the carriages up to the second floor and store them for customers.
For much of the 1900s, it was an automobile dealership. Later it housed a graphics business.
Remnants of those past uses were found all over the building, Davis said. The former carriage lift had been transformed into a conference table. Old gears became a chandelier.
“We did renovations on it, and then down in the basement, we had all of these ‘things’ that were 99% trash that had not been dealt with over the past 100 years,” he said. “In the very back, was this machine here.”
In the mid-1900s, the building had housed Franklin Printing Service, which is likely where the press came from. The printing press had been built by Chandler and Price, a Cleveland-based manufacturer that became famous for its printing presses in the late 19th century.
The version found at B2S was from its Old Style series, identifiable by its wavy spokes on the flywheel. The printing press was not in great condition — covered in grease and grime and pigeon droppings from years of neglect.
“But what was interesting was, when you turned the flywheel, it was smooth,” Davis said. “It worked great. It didn’t look great, though.”
Intrigued by what this machine was, Davis and Dr. Ron Bowser, the company’s chief scientific officer, did some more research on the printing press. Bowser knew someone who might be able to help.
Showalter founded Hoosierboy Restorations about 10 years. After 25 years of working in education and information technologies, he cashed out his 401k to start a business restoring antiques and vintage toys.
He’s worked on everything from old tricycles to pedal cars to Coca-Cola refrigerators to a military-grade ejector seat for an Air Force plane.
“It’s a utilitarian piece, but it’s also a beautiful design,” Showalter said. “Not only is it something that you can use every day, but to me it really has some design and style and beauty too.”
The first challenge was getting the press from B2S to Hoosierboy Restoration’s Beech Grove workshop. Weighing about 1,000 pounds, the machine had to be hauled up and moved with the help of special equipment and Showalter and his staff.
Over the next year, off and on, the Hoosierboy team worked with it. They cleaned 100 years of ink and grease off of it, renting a steam jet to get all of the nastiness off. Showalter also sandblasted the paint off, and finding that the manufacturers had originally used a lacquer kind of paint, they replicated it as best they could.
All of the metal gears were polished to a shine. Showalter even added a plate to print a flyer for B2S Life Sciences.
“Having it sit in a prominent space like this, that has the history like it does, is really kind of cool,” he said. “Any time I can save something from the scrapyard, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.”
Showalter also put safeguards on the press, so that if someone touched it, they wouldn’t be injured by moving parts or turning gears.
“He took his time that it was all clean and working, as well as safe, since it was something we wanted to display,” Davis said.
With the project now complete, Davis hopes that those who pass by the B2S offices, as well as those who come into the facility on business, get a better sense of the tradition that the company wants to be part of.
“It gives us a sense of pride and makes us feel like we’re a part of the history of Franklin, even if we’re relatively new here,” he said.
