Posted May 14, 200619 yr City hall may contain treasure Project to see if mural underneath BY DAN KLEPAL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER Workers at Cincinnati City Hall will begin peeling back the years this week - along with decades-old paint, glue and acoustical tile - from the ceiling inside council chambers in an attempt to uncover a mystery. The effort could lead to a larger project to restore a piece of the city's history, covered more than 70 years ago. It is believed that local artist Charles Pedretti, a world-famous muralist who lived in Price Hill, painted the ceiling of council chambers as part of a $25,000 contract he won to be the interior designer when the building was under construction from 1888 to 1893. The murals were covered with acoustical tiles in the 1930s because it was difficult to hear debates of the day in the enormous room. Read full article here: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060514/NEWS01/605140361
May 14, 200619 yr But Koopman says people nowadays shouldn't be too critical of decisions made decades ago. "I don't fault them. That's just the way they did things," Koopman said. "They had an issue, they put tile in. It was a different time. But with everything we do today, we are mindful of what City Hall is - a historic piece of architecture. "And this is a special project." I agree with that in principle - you've gotta judge folks' behavior by the standards of their time, not our time. But in this case, no, fuck them, these fuckers were vandals, just like the sons of bitches that paint over finished wood.
May 14, 200619 yr I never understand why people do some of these things. We have finished wood that was painted over in my house as well. :( Also my cousin has a rookwood fireplace in his home, and a previous owner had painted over it. He and his wife scraped off the paint, and the fireplace is now beautiful and in great condition. Has anyone here been to the Taft Museum by Lytle Park? The original entrance has these huge murals surrounding it. At one point, they had been painted over and I think even wall-papered. :roll: The murals have since been restored, but I ask myself "What where they thinking?!?!?!"
May 14, 200619 yr Painting over a rookwood fireplace? That is truly criminal... Yes, and it was painted pink and mint green *shudder*
May 14, 200619 yr Does anyone have pics of the council chambers now? What I've seen on the news looks kind of 70's-ish.
July 24, 200618 yr Remaking City Hall's ceiling BY DAN KLEPAL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER A small piece of Cincinnati City Hall's council chambers will be restored to its original look this fall - a 10-foot by 12-foot area, to be exact. The ceiling in council chambers once was covered with ornate murals and paintings by artist Charles Pedretti, a muralist who lived in Price Hill. That art was covered 70 years ago with acoustical tiles. The city hired Fearing & Hagenauer Architects in May to remove a small section of the tiles and peel back the glue to see if the murals could be restored. They found that the murals could be reproduced, but there was too much damage to restore the murals. Read full article here: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060723/NEWS01/607230362/1056/rss02
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