Breaking News

More () »

Ohio

Longaberger's Big Basket building to open for tours

The building near Newark, known as the Big Basket, is a seven-story replica of the company's medium market basket.

Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

In this Sept. 6, 2005 file photo, the Longaberger building is seen in Newark, Ohio. Newark, a city of about 45,000 people, is filled with empty storefronts and charming old-fashioned buildings that seem stuck in the past. The Longaberger Co., based in Newark, Ohio, has laid off several hundred employees in recent years. Building materials maker Owens Corning plans to put some of the 700 workers at its Newark insulation plant on unpaid furlough. And that's just the surface of the deep well of layoffs here. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

NEWARK, Ohio (AP) — The former headquarters of Longaberger baskets will be open for tours in a fundraiser for an Ohio preservation society.

The Plain Dealer reports proceeds from the tours on Sunday will go toward Heritage Ohio's efforts to invest in the rehabilitation of Ohio's rural downtowns.

The building near Newark, known as the Big Basket, is a seven-story replica of the company's medium market basket.

Heritage Ohio board member Steve Coon bought the building in 2017 and is working toward having it added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The building has been vacant since 2016.

Longaberger, a one-time hugely successful seller of handcrafted baskets, went out of business in 2018.

RELATED: How the Longaberger basket empire slowly unraveled after 2000 peak

RELATED: Longaberger empties famous Ohio basket building