Historic artwork discovered at Colorado Capitol
Senate Chamber, Colorado State Capitol Building, Denver, Colorado. Photo by Greg O’Beirne, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
DENVER (AP) – Architects peeling 60-year-old acoustic tile off a wall in the Senate chamber of the Colorado Capitol building got a welcome greeting from the past. Workers uncovered gold filigree stenciling that had been layered over red paint by Denver artist Manuel Hill when the chamber was built in 1894.
The ornate stenciling had been plastered over with tiles in 1954 and hadn’t been seen in a generation.
Old black-and-white photographs had given architects “an inkling of what might be behind there,” said project manager Joel Sydlow, but there was uncertainty about the condition of the original decor.
“I’m delighted they found this,” said Metropolitan State University of Denver history professor Derek Everett, who wrote a book on the history of the Capitol building. “As far as I know, that’s the original decor. … It will give people a chance to see what the chambers looked like in their heyday.”
The tiles were removed to test for asbestos and lead as part of preliminary work in a larger, multiyear effort to restore both chambers to their historic condition, said former House Speaker Frank McNulty, a Highlands Ranch Republican.
After the discovery in the Senate chamber, contractors moved to the House chamber, where they found gold stenciling on top of green paint underneath tiles.
Everett said the 1950s ushered in a period when old architecture was knocked down to make way for new technology.
“The 1950s architectural style was horrible,” Everett said.
Besides the tile placement, other 1950s renovations that dramatically altered the Capitol included the destruction of historic fabric, marble walls and lighting fixtures in the governor’s reception room. At one point, there was talk of taking out antique chandeliers in the House and Senate chambers and replacing them with fluorescent lighting.
“The Historical Society thankfully fought that back,” Everett said.
Samples of the stenciling are currently undergoing testing to help lawmakers determine what steps need to be taken next.
There are multiple options that still need to be ironed out, Sydlow said, including the possibility of complete restoration or sealing the old decor and re-creating the original artwork with a new paint job.
The renovation work is being paid for by House and Senate budgets with some help from the state’s capital construction fund. No money from the general fund will be used.
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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Senate Chamber, Colorado State Capitol Building, Denver, Colorado. Photo by Greg O’Beirne, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
