Hall of Justice Mural Restoration

DOUGLAS COUNTY COURTHOUSE

HALL OF JUSTICE MURAL RESTORATION OMAHA, NE FOREWORD BY PAUL G. COHEN A BVH ARCHITECTURE PUBLICATION

DOUGLAS COUNTY COURTHOUSE

HALL OF JUSTICE MURAL RESTORATION OMAHA, NE FOREWORD BY PAUL G. COHEN A BVH ARCHITECTURE PUBLICATION

Produced by Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission Omaha, Nebraska All Rights Reserved Copyright @ 2017 BVH Architecture No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior consent from BVH Architecture.

First Edition Printed in the United States of America

Project Director: Dan Worth Research: Dan Worth and Steve Kelley, BVH Architecture Terry VanderWell and Kumiko Hisano, Evergreene Architectural Arts, Inc. Photography: BVH Architecture; Evergreene Architectural Arts; Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission; Bostwick Frohardt Collection Durham Museum; Omaha World Herald; Amoura Productions Text: Dan Worth Design: Tim Frisch

Contents Foreword 9 Part 1 Background and History 11 Part 2 Approach and Restoration Process

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Part 3 Completed Restoration 67 Part 4 Project Team & Acknowledgments 75

Foreword Paul G. Cohen The project to preserve and restore the historic murals in the Douglas County Hall of Justice is a testament to community leadership and commitment. The account of the entire project that repaired and replaced worn and damaged portions of the rotunda is contained on these pages.

From the replacement of the skylight in its entirety, to the completion of the mural restoration and preservation—the focus of this booklet—many contributed to the project’s success.

The mural project could not have even begun without the recognition of its importance by: John and Carmen Gottschalk Deryl F. Hamann Brian and Carey Hamilton Howard and Rhonda Hawks Pinnacle Bank The David Scott Foundation Ruth and Bill Scott Gail and Michael Yanney Their generous contributions were tangible evidence that the community desired the preservation of one of Nebraska’s most important landmarks.

It is a great example of a public-private partnership and we are sincerely grateful for their support.

The Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission, led by Dr. Ronald W. Roskens, ensured the project’s completion by extraordinary architects, engineers, artists and technicians. Thank you for their unwavering enthusiastic support to the members of the Public Building Commission: Dr. Ronald W. Roskens, Chair Michael Boyle Clare Duda Ben Gray Aimee Melton The Douglas County Board of Commissioners were equally encouraging and involved in the mural project. Their valuable participation is much appreciated: Mary Ann Borgeson, Chair Michael Boyle James Cavanaugh Clare Duda Marc Kraft P. J. Morgan Christopher Rogers

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The citizens of Omaha and Douglas County can take great pride in the result of the restoration.

The complex work of restoring the murals to their original intent could not have been accomplished without the cooperation of the staffs at The Omaha World Herald and the Durham Museum. Their assistance in aiding our preservation team by providing access to the vast troves of articles, photographs and artifacts about the murals and their long and varied history, helped make sure, as the EverGreene Architectural Arts, Inc. preservationist, Kumiko Hisano, said, “We get it right.” To her, her team led by Terry VanderWell, and to BVH Architecture, led by Dan Worth and Stephen Kelley, our thanks for a job well done.

While each member of the Building Commission staff was involved in the project in one way or another, Lori Hedlund, Contract Administrator, deserves special recognition. In addition to looking after several other large scale projects, Lori spent countless hours coordinating schedules, answering questions, working with artists, architects and other contractors, reporting progress, obtaining 10 |

approvals, escorting visitors, working with Nebraska State agencies and becoming adept at climbing up and down the vertical ladder from the 6th floor elevator lobby to the “dance floor” suspended across the rotunda, and insuring the project was ontime and on-budget. It was obvious that she did not think of the work as “just a job.”

She loved it and it showed.

The murals tell an interesting story of our City, County, State and Nation. Behind that story are the tales of all who contributed to the growth and prosperity of our part of the world. This project, in a way, says thank you to them for their legacy, and, we hope, will inspire those who see it to continue to build an even brighter future for all who inhabit here.

For the Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission and its staff, we welcome you to yet another chapter in the history of the Douglas County Hall of Justice.

Paul G. Cohen

Administrator, Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission

PART 1

BACKGROUND & HISTORY

Part 1: Background and History The Douglas County Courthouse (also called the Hall of Justice) located at 1701 Farnam Street in Omaha, Nebraska, was constructed in 1912 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The grand edifice was designed by renowned Omaha architect John Latenser, Sr. and rendered in Indiana Limestone in the French Renaissance Revival style.

A major feature of the courthouse interior is a central rotunda that is surmounted by a skylight dome with an ornate stained glass laylight assembly below it. The walls in the rotunda are composed of ornamental plaster and polychrome paint. There are eight murals that surround the stained glass dome that depict the historical growth of the Omaha area, from the Native American settlers to the creation of the urban landscape. The original 1912 mural titles arranged counterclockwise starting from the south panel are: 1. Indian Encampment, 2. Prairie Scene, 3. Arrival of the White Man, 4. Clearing of the Land,

Detail from Arrival of the White Man.

5. Plowing, 6. Wheatfields, 7. Harvest and 8. Missouri River.

The eight murals have had a complicated history of catastrophic damage and several unsuccessful repair and restoration attempts. The original 1912 murals painted

by William Rau were severely damaged by a fire in September of 1919 when a mob stormed the courthouse and set it ablaze.

The courthouse sustained over $500,000 in damages and the fire “turned them (murals) mostly to soot.�

Repainted in 1922, possibly by William Baird, and with later interventions in 1932, 1955 and 1980, the murals continued to suffer deterioration from chronic water infiltration from the skylight above the stained glass laylight. Moisture penetration from the stained glass oculus caused extensive plaster efflorescence, canvas delamination, and paint loss.

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Opposite: Excerpt from the Omaha World Herald, October 6, 1912, announcing the completed murals by William Rau in the new Douglas County Courthouse.

Left: Hall of Justice, 1913.

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Left: Mob gathering outside the Douglas County Courthouse, 1919. The damage done by the ensuing riot led to the first restoration efforts in 1922.

Top: Excerpt from Omaha World Herald May 10, 1922, noting upcoming restoration to be undertaken by WPA.

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Murals in Hall of Justice in 2016, prior to restoration.

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Wheat Field Pocahontas prior to restoration. The upper portion of the mural was destroyed by the 1919 fire and removed. The 1922 restoration painted the upper half of the mural directly on plaster (note peeling paint and plaster) and the lower was on the original canvas.

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Indian Encampment prior to restoration. This mural was the most severely damaged and deteriorated of the eight. Shown here is the severe deterioration and delamination of the canvas, and the waterdamaged plaster walls, molding and trim.

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By early 2009 the conditions had become critical and the Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission (ODPBC) initiated the first of several projects to halt the deterioration and begin the process of restoring the rotunda to its original glory.

The first project consisted of a complete skylight replacement which stopped all water infiltration. This project was followed next by the restoration of the stained glass laylight panels in 2010. These two projects set the stage for the complete restoration of the murals.

Early in 2016 BVH Architecture (BVH) was engaged by ODPBC to prepare restoration specifications and issue an RFP for the mural restoration project.

A “Request for Proposals� was issued in late March 2016 and bids were received in early May. EverGreene Architectural Arts, Inc. of Oak Park, IL, and New York, NY, submitted the successful restoration proposal. The Public Building Commission approved the contract in July 2016 and work was underway by fall.

Examples of the drawings and details from the BVH restoration documents for the skylight replacement and stained glass laylight restoration. Once water infiltration was stopped, the mural restoration project could be initiated.

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PART 2

APPROACH & RESTORATION PROCESS

Part 2: Approach & Restoration Process

At the outset of the restoration project, access to the murals was a critical need, not only to be able get up close and examine the condition of the paintings and substrate but also to allow artisans a safe and stable platform on which to perform the restoration of the murals and ornamental plaster. The solution was to erect a scaffolding system 55’ x 55’ x 90’ that spanned the entire rotunda, and was supported from the 5 1/2 floor mezzanine and partially on the sixth floor. The deck floor was placed about six feet below the ceiling of the dome and was accessed by a ladder at the 6th floor. This deck floor allowed conservators and artisans access to all parts of the murals and plaster dome while protecting visitors and workers at the Courthouse from the work occurring overhead.

Detail from Plowing.

Before any restoration work was undertaken, the conservation professionals performed detailed inspections and investigations to document the condition of the murals and plaster dome. Additional historic research was also completed at this time to help the conservators understand the physical changes that had occurred over time.

A number of test panels and exposure windows were completed to reveal the paint layers to understand and confirm the history of repainting/alterations that had occurred over time. The exposure windows also helped determine original paint colors and materials used for the murals, ceiling and ornamental plaster elements including skylight frames.

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Historical and archival research at the Omaha World Herald archives and the Durham Museum’s Bostwick Frohardt photographic collections confirmed that the four corner murals had large figures added that were not part of the original mural composition. The original corner paintings had scenes of buffalo on the prairie, a cleared settlement, a field of wheat and a view of Omaha as seen from across the Missouri River.

After gathering all of the site and historical information, a consultation was held with all team members who agreed that a total of five murals needed to be recreated and the remaining three murals restored in place.

The five murals to be recreated included the four corner murals (#2. Prairie Scene, #4. Clearing of the Land, #6. Wheatfields, and #8. Missouri River) that had been radically altered and severely deteriorated, and mural #1 Indian Encampment due to its fragile and extremely deteriorated state.

Final restoration activities included the stabilization of three original murals that remained. This work included cleaning, removal of varnish and limited overpaint removal to clarify the amount and conditions of the original paint.

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Restoration artisans then used the original palette and composition for the final restoration work. The five murals to be reproduced were matched and traced on site and were reproduced and repainted on canvas in EverGreene’s NYC studios.

The five deteriorated canvases were removed carefully, rolled and wrapped for long term archival storage. The plaster walls underneath were repaired and the newly recreated mural canvases reinstalled.

The ornate plaster cornices, consoles, moldings and ribs were restored, cleaned, painted, re-glazed and re-guilded to match the original finish and paint schemes.

During the course of the mural restoration ODPBC took the opportunity to upgrade lighting under the mural panels to LED fixtures, which will lessen the impact of UV light degradation of the canvases and help illuminate restored images for better public viewing.

At the completion of the project, all documentation including paint analysis, sketches, mock-ups and photographs were given to ODPBC for storage in their archives for future use by facility managers.

View of the underside of the scaffolding placed above the sixth floor. This stable platform was the first step to a successful restoration effort.

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View of the “dance floor� or top side of scaffolding soon after its installation in late November 2016. The floor provided a flexible and safe workspace, allowing rolling scaffolding to reach upper portions of the ornate plaster entablature for restoration.

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“Dance floor� in early spring 2017. At this stage of restoration, plaster repairs have been completed at cornice and mural niches. Painting and priming is progressing along with readying the new recreated canvases for installation.

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As part of the first steps in the restoration process, exposure windows and paint analysis were undertaken to obtain the original color schemes. Clockwise from left: sketches recording paint layers; exposure windows reveal layers of paint; mock-ups of a section at the entablature and cornice under dome for client and architect approval.

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Opposite: Paint analysis revealed gold leafing at many of the plaster details.

Elizabeth Kolligs of Evergreene Architectural Arts installs composition gold leafing at restored bead and real details. Once covered by a layer of paint, gold leaf restoration is a delicate process, but yields spectacular results.

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Initial restoration efforts included cleaning and restoring the skylight supporting ribs and vaulting. The paint used was a metallic mica pigmented paint to match original copper and bronze finish.

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Indian Encampment before restoration. The mural was documented in place using digital photography and color rendition charts to assist in capturing original colors.

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Details from recreated mural capturing the original colors and brush strokes (bottom left).

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Prairie Scene prior to restoration.

Left: Prairie Scene exposure windows and paint analysis revealed that the Native figure in the foreground was not original to the Rau mural. Analysis also revealed herds of buffalo in original Rau mural painting.

Right: An Evergreene artist touching up the newly installed restored mural.

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The Arrival of the White Man mural required only minor onsite touch ups to restore it to original condition.

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Clearing of the Land prior to restoration and re-creation.

The crudely painted figure of Lady Liberty in the foreground was added during the 1980 repainting of the mural.

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Newly painted Clearing of the Land mural from Evergreene studio ready for installation.

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Installation of Clearing of the Land. The canvas was cut into sections to accommodate double curvature of plaster niche prior to installation. Once in place it was touched up

by Evergreene artists.

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Opposite: Wheatfields mural before restoration.

Above: Wheatfields maquette based on studies of the original mural, used as guide for final restoration.

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Above: Missouri River mural before restoration. The figure in the foreground was over-painted on the canvas in the 1980 restoration which generated a good amount of controversy.

Opposite: Evergreene workers applying recreated mural on the restored plaster niche.

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The Plowing mural was restored in place.

Careful studies were made by restoration artists using original paint colors, which were then utilized on-site while restoring the mural.

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Detail of maquette and restored painting for Harvest mural. Touch-up of final installed mural utilized the same paint mixtures and colors applied to canvas in the New York Evergreene studio.

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At end of the restoration project, all field notes, maquettes, paint color analysis, historical research and material samples, along with all removed mural canvases, were carefully wrapped and given to the Building Commission archives to aid in future planning and restoration efforts.

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PART 3

RESTORATION COMPLETED

Part 3: Restoration Completed

The duration of the mural restoration project began with the erection of scaffolding in November of 2016.

Investigations and testing were initiated in early December with the restoration of the skylight ribs and frames completed in January 2017. Maquettes for the reproduction of the five murals were prepared and approved in February, with the final painting and production of the murals in March and April. The final restoration of the decorative plaster, murals and installation of the newly recreated murals was completed in early May of 2017.

The following photos show the eight restored murals and their historical, or “original,� names.

Detail from Clearing of the Land.

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Indian Encampment

Prairie Scene

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Arrival of the White Man

Clearing of the Land

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Plowing

Wheatfields

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Harvest

Missouri River

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PART 4

PROJECT TEAM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Part 4: Project Team Acknowledgments

The major participants of the restoration project included staff of the Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission, BVH Architecture of Omaha and Lincoln NE, and EverGreene Architectural Arts of Oak Park, IL, and New York, NY. Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission team included: Clare Duda, Commissioner Aimee Melton, Commissioner Ben Gray, Commissioner Michael Boyle, Commissioner Ronald Roskens, Commission Chair

BVH Architecture assessed the scope of the project, developed design solutions for the skylight replacement and stained glass laylight restoration and mural and plaster restoration. They specified the activities to be performed, materials to be used, scheduled the activities and oversaw the completion of the restoration contracts on behalf of the Public Building Commission.

The BVH Architecture team included: Dan Worth, AIA, FAPT Principal, Project Manager

Paul Cohen, Administrator

Steve Kelley, FAIA, FAPT Preservation Specialist

Lori Hedlund, Contract Administrator

Gary Bowen, FAIA, Principal

Pat Herzog, Chief Facilities Manager

Kelley Rosburg, AIA, Project Architect

Detail from Wheatfields.

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View from first floor rotunda looking up to the restored stained glass laylights and murals.

Evergreene Architectural Arts provided the restoration services for the Courthouse Murals and decorative finishes including the artisans, architectural conservators and painters. A local subcontractor, Safway, provided the scaffolding and access to the dome areas.

The Evergreene Architectural Arts team included:

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Terry VanderWell, Director of Restoration

Boris Gusit

Kumiko Hisano, Lead Conservator

Alex Hutton

Justin Stamper

Hai-Sun Jia

John Allen Kehde

Ashley Koschiss

Jeanne Holliman

Yana Mihaylova

Antony Pitt

Sunok Chun

Cory Thompson

Kevin Enright

Geoffrey Hemans

Bill Mensching

Elizabeth Koligs

Sofi Stambolieva

Daniel Schroeder

Patty Gleason

Zini Veshi

Gillian Randell

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Views of restored murals and stained glass laylights from fifth floor rotunda.

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Left: Restoration team members meeting at project site; (left to right) Lori Hedlund (ODPBC), Dan Worth (BVH), Terry VanderWell and Kumiko Hisano (Evergreene).

Right: Kumiko Hisano and Dan Worth at project site.

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