|
 In
the construction industry, there is usually no such thing as a
“pleasant” surprise. However, when such a surprise occurred
recently during renovation of the old historic Kansas City
Public Library building, it was a Gladstone, Missouri painting
and wallpaper contractor, Ron Goens of Goens Brothers, Inc., who
provided the answer to how to save the surprise.
The
historic library is located at 900 Locust in downtown Kansas
Citv.
According
to Susan Richards Johnson, architect for the renovation and
restoration project, the removal of an 11 foot high suspended
plaster ceiling in the room that became the first home of the
Nelson Gallery of Art revealed an intricate, hand painted fresco
ceiling consisting of large 14 foot by14 foot flat areas set
between diver beams and girded by side vaulted barrel coves. The
3,300 square foot ceiling was concealed during a 1935
modernization project.
Ozark National Life
Insurance Company, owner of the building, and Fairbanks, Inc.,
lessee of the area, both agreed that the ceiling should be
restored to its original grandeur.
The question was how to
achieve such splendor without bankrupting everyone involved.
Johnson gives credit to Goens for solving the dilemma.
“I originally wanted to
stencil the flat portions of the ceiling and then hand paint the
remaining areas, but that was cost prohibitive,” Johnson said.
“Also, we found that to match the original colors, we needed a
special chemical analysis process that is only available on the
East Coast.”
“Ron’s idea was to transfer the
ceiling design onto vinyl wallcovering via silk screening. It
was the perfect solution at an affordable cost.” It also was
an idea that required the patience, perseverance, and skill of
several Kansas City professionals. Because the ceiling had faded
and deteriorated since the building was constructed in 1895-97,
Wanda Simmons, a freelance artist, was hired to trace small
sections of the existing design onto onion skin paper.
The work required Simmons
to mount a 20 foot scaffold that had been specially constructed
for her by Goens. The scaffold included fenced sides, allowing
her more physical freedom when tracing the barrel sides as well
as removing her fear of falling.
Lisa Lassman Briscoe, a renovation
consultant for the Historic Kansas City Foundation, also used
the scaffold as she worked to provide an interpretation of the
original colors. Her process included using a scalpel to clean a
small area of each color of subsequent paint and surface soil.
Briscoe also made a
shallow bevel through all the paint’s layers, exposing each
color down to the plaster. According to her final report, the
ceiling’s original color scheme consisted of 22 different
colors.
Continued
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