NORWICH – After months of anticipation and curiosity, the question on the minds of Anna and Scott McLaughlin was finally answered when they saw what stood behind the aluminum sheeting that had covered the building for over 30 years.

On Wednesday, Sept. 19, workers began to remove the aluminum sheeting that had been placed on the building decades ago. They revealed a brick facade that is in surprisingly good shape, three large windows, a row of mostly shattered smaller windows and part of a sculpted mural that stood at the top of the building.

“We were very excited to see what was underneath,” said store owner Anna McLaughlin. Anna said she and her husband Scott had no idea what to expect to find under the sheeting, which was already in place when Scott’s father purchased the building. Contractors assume the sheeting was put up around 1960. “We were very happy to see the condition that the building is in,” Anna said.

The McLaughlin’s Department Store building was previously the site of the Montgomery Ward Department store and Anna believes the sculpted figure on the top of the building is the “Spirit of Progress,” a symbol that was the trademark of Montgomery Ward in the 1920s and 1930s. It appears the top of the figure was detached so that it would not be visible from beneath the sheeting. Replacing the figure is one of the McLaughlins’ goals for the building.

According to Anna, the McLaughlins also hope to accomplish some repair of the structure’s brick, the replacement of the 11 shattered windows on the second floor and improvements to the large windows on the third floor to make them more energy efficient. They would also like to replace a ledge that looks like it was chiseled away in order to allow the sheeting to lay flat.