Gloucester DPW rehung art throughout City Hall following the 2023 fire & smoke damage. Frames were rewired.
In Kyrouz Auditorium, the Mayors Portrait Gallery installation was shuffled and reordered to incorporate portraits past and future with more to come. Two large Howard Curtis paintings recently donated to the city’s art collection are featured in the main hall.
The Mayor Portraits Gallery is extensive, nearly complete, and a work in progress. Mayor portraits are installed following service: A portrait of Mayor Romeo Theken will be added. A poster of the Mayor Barrett portrait will come, the third in a series of poster reproductions for the trio of Mayor portraits painted by Charles Allan Winter (quick, not from life, unprimed, and flaking). I recommended the portrait of Mayor Dyer (A.H. Bicknell, 1879) be brought upstairs in sequence with the others, and that Mayor Merchant be represented (he wasn’t), so it’s great to see those two included. I also recommended that the portrait of Mayor O’Maley be brought back from O’Maley school and one future day a portrait of Mayor Foster (rather than a plaque) and perhaps a larger portrait of Mayor Beatrice Corliss be commissioned.
Images: Kyrouz Auditorium, City Hall, Jan. 2024, ©C. Ryan.
As is common with Gloucester DPW, the staff admires the architectural details and history of the building. Here, Joe and Jim take in the ‘scenic overlook’ from the balcony. Jim talks about the Kyrouz ceiling lights: the original engineering mechanism that drops the fixtures so that the bulbs can be changed remains operational.
2023 custom scaffolding set up CLEANING CITY HALL CEILING AFTER THE BASEMENT FIRE/SMOKE DAMAGE
The ceiling is sparkling because workers could reach it from atop a specialty scaffolding platform (a la Michelangelo :)). Images: Kyrouz Auditorium, City Hall, 2023. Courtesy photos, Joe Lucido, Asst. Dir. DPW
Look up!
On the Dale Avenue entrance side of City Hall, above the fire & smoke incident, the stairwell walls and ceiling received attention, too. The facilities remediation project was smartly directed by DPW.
City Hall 1867 1869 1871
photo: 2013, C. Ryan
City Archives is open and as ever ready to help!
Good Morning Gloucester 