History Mystery

At the Cass Gilbert symposium held this morning at the Mattatuck Museum, a mystery was raised by the presenters. The front of the U.S. Supreme Court building, under the pediment, is engraved with the phrase "Equal Justice Under Law".

The Associate Curator of the U.S. Supreme Court, Matthew D. Hofstedt, informed us that the origin of the phrase is currently unknown. A quick Google search turns up a Wikipedia page dedicated to theories about the origin of the phrase, but (not too surprising) Wikipedia doesn't have the answer. The Wikipedia page has been recently updated to make reference to the stencil over the entrance to the Veteran's Memorial chamber in the Waterbury City Hall. The stencil leads one to believe that the phrase was created by Cass Gilbert.

As pointed out by the experts in attendance today (Barbara Christen and Robert Gryzwacz), we don't have any documentation to prove that the stencil dates from 1915--it could have been added later.

I can't resist a challenge like this. No one knows? Really? Ooooo! Let me do some research!

What I discovered is not at all surprising. Cass Gilbert, who added quotes from Abraham Lincoln to several places in the Waterbury City Hall building, got this phrase from Lincoln.

I found a reference to it in an 1883 publication by The Chautauqua Institute, which pretty clearly attributes it to Lincoln. Unfortunately, they don't cite their source, so I don't know which speech or letter it comes from. And a search on the Library of Congress database of Lincoln's papers doesn't turn it up. But I'll keep digging!

UPDATE 4/12/2011: The word is that the inscription in City Hall is not original, that it was added during the 2010 renovation. Additionally, (as pointed out to me by Matthew Hofstedt) even though the title page of the above-mentioned Chautauqua Institute book on Google Books is for an 1883 publication, the portion containing the phrase is from a speech written in 1936.

Building the Future

This Saturday, April 9th, the Mattatuck Museum will be hosting a special program that should be of interest to anyone involved in efforts to revitalize Waterbury. There was a similar event in 2007, before the City Hall project started, making this one a nice bookend.

Text below is reprinted from the Mattatuck Museum.

Cass Gilbert and the Future of Downtown Waterbury

The taxpayers of Waterbury spent $35.9m to restore what many call the most beautiful building in the state, our City Hall. How can civic leaders, business people, and city residents build on this great accomplishment to attract new business, new residents, and new jobs? Join us as Allen Plattus, professor of architecture and urbanism at the Yale School of Architecture;  Dr. Barbara Christen, co-editor of Cass Gilbert, Life and Work: Architect of the Public Domain; Matt Hofstedt, Associate Curator of the U.S. Supreme Court and Kevin Taylor, Waterbury Development Corporation discuss how we can learn from American cities that have used their historic buildings to reinvent their city centers.  Program: 9:00am-12:15pm Lunch break: 12:15-1:00pm (lunch is included in the cost of the event) Tours of City Hall for symposium participants only: 1:00-2:00pm
Date:	April 9th, 2011
Time:	9:00 AM   -   12:30 PM
Location	144 West Main Street Waterbury, CT 06702 United States
Contact	Phone: 203 753-0381 ext 10 Email: cfilippone@mattatuckmuseum.org
Event Fee(s)	Members $ 15.00 Non-members $ 20.00

» Register Now

 

City Hall Re-Dedication

(For photos of what the building looked like before the $32 million restoration and upgrade, see my 2006 blog post. For photos during restoration, see my July 2010 blog post. And if you really have a lot of time to kill, you can click on my City Hall blog label to read all the posts I wrote during the long fight to save this building, and Bryan Baker's blog in November and December 2006 for his efforts during the 2006 struggle.)

Saturday was the re-dedication ceremony and official re-opening of the Municipal Building on Grand Street. Pretty much all the city's political officials attended, including former Mayors Bergin, Santopietro and Caligiuri.

It seemed strange to me for some of the former Mayors, especially Bergin and Santopietro, to be honored at the re-dedication, since it was under their watch that the building was allowed to fall apart. Granted, one cause of the decay was the lack of a proper maintenance plan, which goes back before Bergin. But the building should never have been neglected for so long. I guess it's a symptom of the larger problems. The city suffers from decades of infrastructure neglect, from years of poor management. We're finally moving in the right direction, but I can't help worrying that the building will fall apart again. Waterbury Development Corporation, which did such a magnificent job revitalizing the building, has prepared extensive manuals with instructions on the correct maintenance procedures for the building, but there is no guarantee that future administrations will adhere to the guidelines.

Okay, enough doom and gloom for today. On to the celebration of what has been accomplished!

I missed part of the opening ceremonies, but arrived in time for the flag raising and national anthem.

The ceremony was accompanied by the Fulton American Band.

The crowd filled the entourage (Cass Gilbert's name for the piazza in front of the building), which was created for public gatherings.

The beautiful, painted copper-clad and gilt cupola.

The patriotic and Classical eagles on top of the pilasters on the building's facade.

More of the crowd, listening to the speeches, which included one by Cass Gilbert's great-granddaughter. My favorite part of her speech was her family's motto: "If you're not going to do it right, don't bother."

A few people wandered across the street during the speeches, waiting for their chance to go inside and see the gorgeous building.

Waterbury's visual icon of patriotism, Ziggy, arrived toward the end of the speeches.

It took at least ten minutes for everyone to get through the entrance.

Complimentary cookies, hot cocoa and sandwiches were served by Café B-Muse (open weekdays for lunch at the Mattatuck Museum). The first and second floors were pack with people. It's probably the one time when there will be a line of people eagerly and joyfully waiting to enter the Tax Collectors office.

A few people resting on the railing overlooking the grand staircase.

The Veteran's Memorial Chamber. There is a supply of folding chairs and tables that get set up in this room as needed for various meetings.

The clock and stencils over the entrance to the Veteran's Memorial Chamber.

Mayor Jarjura outside the entrance to the Mayoral suite of offices.

Happy people in the Aldermanic Chamber. Larry Depillo (seen posing with outspoken activist Lisa Lessard) fought the restoration of the building tooth and nail every step of the way. I hope he now puts his energy into ensuring that the building will be properly maintained going forward.

The Chase Building across the street, seen from the original Mayor's Office. It's next in line for a maintenance overhaul, but so far Mayor Jarjura has said its restoration needs to wait indefinitely.

The architecture is so graceful, with so many places that lend themselves to beautiful compositions.

Tom Chute was present, broadcasting the event on WATR 1320.

The entourage without the crowd. The fountain is now, after decades, in working order, but is turned off for the winter.

There is one more celebratory event scheduled, a gala on January 8. You can register for the gala on the special City Hall website, or by calling the Mattatuck Museum (203-753-0381).

City Hall Building

I volunteered to give a couple of tours of the dazzling newly-restored and updated city hall building today. An older couple on one of my tours came to this country (and Waterbury) many decades ago. Their parting comment to me was to express delight at finally seeing an appreciation of history and historic architecture equal to that of Europe. They know times are hard, and likely to get harder, but seeing such a magnificent building restored to its glory warms their hearts and lifts their spirits.

There is talk about plans to do more tours in the coming months--keep an eye on waterburycityhall.com for notification when that's finalized.

In the meantime, you can get a look at the building at the rededication ceremony at noon on January 1st, and watch a couple of sneak-peeks below thanks to videos made by the Republican-American newspaper.

Art in Public Spaces

Let me preface this by saying that I am aware that a single newspaper article often will not tell the whole story, and that it might be written in a way to make a particular topic sound more exciting or dramatic than it really is. With that said, however, an article in yesterday's Rep-Am really put me on edge with the very first sentence: "A plan to build a small sculpture plaza in back of City Hall has prompted a debate over whether the city can afford public art — and if so, what kind."

This is a tough blog post for me to write without ranting incoherently. Maybe I should start with some background information the general public might not be aware of.

In Connecticut, the fundamental importance of having art in public spaces is protected and provided for by law and has been since 1978. To quote directly from the website of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism: "the Art in Public Spaces program requires that not less than 1% of the cost of construction or renovation of publicly accessible state buildings be allocated for the commission or purchase of artwork for that building."

One percent is a very small percent. For the City Hall project, running at an approximate cost of $36 million, one percent is $360,000. The Waterbury Development Corporation proposes spending less than that, a mere $112,000, for the proposed sculpture court.

The City Hall is not a state building, so it does not have to meet the state requirement. To quote further from the CCCT website: "Twenty-seven states and over 300 municipalities legislatively allocate some portion of building costs for art acquisition. In Connecticut, public art programs also exist in New Haven, Stamford and New Britain." But not in Waterbury.

Waterbury wants to improve its image. Waterbury wants to become more like New Haven, or Stamford, or West Hartford. But instead of forward-thinking city officials who want to spend a fraction of a percentage of the funds allocated for a project that is coming in under budget to create a public sculpture court, we are presented with the Mayor's aide declaring that a sculpture court is not necessary.

Excuse me while I rant incoherently for a minute....

Waterbury does not have a good track record concerning public art. Yes, we do have some great art in public spaces, all of which definitely enhance the beauty and character of the city. But Waterbury has a long way to go to make up for the sheer stupidity of an earlier Mayor's administration, which refused to accept the donation of a sculpture from Alexander Calder, the most famous sculptor in the world, for the Buckingham Building. So far, based on yesterday's article, the current Mayor's administration doesn't seem to be any smarter--but maybe that's just how the article was written.

UPDATE: Kudos to Mayor Jarjura for approving the sculpture court project. The next step is the creation of a committee to select the sculpture.

City Hall Tour

After several years of work, the renovation and restoration of our fabulous and nationally-famed Cass Gilbert Municipal Building (City Hall) is nearing completion. As a volunteer with Main Street Waterbury, I was privileged to go on a sneak-peek tour this past Saturday morning. Below are some of the photos I took, along with some explanations. (For contrast, take a look at the "before" photos in my 2006 blog post.)


As you can see, work is still in progress. The restored spaces, particularly the spectacular decorative walls and ceilings, are absolutely breathtaking. It reminds me of the Palace Theater when it reopened after being restored. Simply spectacular!

The cupola is completed. Constructed of copper laid over wood, with a gilt dome and some gilt details. The original clock movement was removed years ago and was given to the Mattatuck Museum.








Next is a view of the Aldermanic Chamber, with restored walls and ceiling. The mural map of Waterbury which you might remember being in the alcove is still there, under the painting recreating Cass Gilbert's original design. Our tour guide, Andrew Martelli (seen holding his daughter in the photo), explained that the map couldn't be removed without being destroyed, so the restored "original" fresco is designed to be removable without harming the map.





The restored ceiling of the Aldermanic Chambers.





Frescoes over the doorways on the second floor have been revealed and will be restored.




The restored ceiling of what was originally a courtroom on the opposite end of the second floor.



And a view of the wall with an appropriately judicial quote in the alcove--there are additional motifs throughout the room that indicate its original function.




A view of the courtyard.




Part of the fun of taking a tour before the project is completed is getting to see the "bones" of the building. The next shot is on the first floor, in the hallway, showing the marble walls laid over more functional brick.




The ceiling on the first floor. Absolutely amazing. Before it was a hideous yellow with white patchwork.




The main staircase. The original risers will remain, but the steps are so worn down they need to be replaced, after the construction crew are done using it. There are now two new and ugly staircases in the building in order to meet modern fire safety codes.




The restored walls and windows (which had been just about ready to fall out) in the main staircase.




Did anyone ever notice the medallions with Medusa before? Until now, they were covered with so many layers of paint they could barely be seen.




Below is the view towards the main staircase from what was originally the Mayor's Office, on the second floor. The Mayor's Office was relocated across the street after the Chase Companies sold their Cass Gilbert-designed headquarters to the city for one dollar in the late 1960s. As of next year, the Mayor's Office will return to City Hall, with one difference. The front room will be reception, and the Mayor's actual office will be down the hall, a little more difficult to access.





Here's another of the fun surprises revealed during the renovations--the original parquet floor of the Mayor's Office, hidden under layers of linoleum and vinyl.





Here's one of two skylights on the third floor (the other skylight has not been restored), in what was the drafting room. The entire third floor will be Corporation Council. Each of the city's eleven attorneys get their own office. Eleven attorneys! Something about that seems very disturbing. Why do we need eleven attorneys?




And last but not least, a view from the roof of the new bricks and marbles in front of the building. Interestingly, the new marble comes from the same Vermont quarry as the original marble. The main fountain will once again be a fountain, not a flower pot. There are some modifications--there is now going to be a walkway straight across the middle, since pedestrians have been cutting through that way for years. (Finally! The city does something pedestrian-friendly!).


While there were a few things that are too bad (like losing one of the skylights), overall the renovation and restoration are fantastic. I sincerely hope the project includes the creation of a regular plan of maintenance and that the city actually maintains proper care of the building. It is a stunning building, something we can all take pride in.

Victory for City Hall

After long months of wrangling, the Board of Aldermen finally voted to move forward with the Option 4 renovation of our Cass Gilbert-designed City Hall building. Hooray! Option 4 calls for the complete restoration of the building--I can't wait to see how beautiful it will look when the project is completed!


I've been a little irritated that DePillo refused to allow Option 5 to pass, since it would have saved taxpayers millions of dollars over the next several years.

Option 5 would have funded the construction of a new fire house, allowing the current one to be renovated for office space. This would have allowed to city to move out of rented office space, and allowed for the consolidation of the Education Department in the Chase Building, which would then allow the city to get grant funding for the renovation/restoration of that structure.

I'm sure DePillo will yammer on about how he saved taxpayer's money by threatening to block Option 5 with a referendum, but as far as I'm concerned, he has cost us money. Eventually, the city will have to find some other way to stop renting office space, so I won't get too riled up about it.

Ultimately, I think all of Waterbury should be proud of what has been accomplished. The Town Hall building in Watertown has been languishing under scaffolding for years. Other towns and cities in the state have also been unable to move forward with the renovation of their main buildings. But here in Waterbury, we're going to get the project done.

Cass Gilbert Events

There are two events this month bringing attention to Waterbury's Cass Gilbert buildings. The first will be held at the Mattatuck Museum on Saturday, April 21st. The second will be held at the Mattatuck Museum on Thursday, April 26.

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Cass Gilbert and Waterbury City Hall: Presentation and Tour
Saturday, April 21
Mattatuck Museum Arts & History Center (144 West Main St.)
8:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Speakers followed by lunch and tour of the downtown Cass Gilbert buildings.


Speakers:

Barbara S. Christen, Ph.D.
Co-editor, Cass Gilbert Life and Work
Speaking on the architectural significance of the building


Alan J. Plattus, Ph.D.
Professor of Architecture and Urbanism, Yale School of Architecture
Founder, Yale Urban Design Workshop
Speaking on the benefits of preservation.


John Michaels
Chairman & CEO, Michaels Jewelers
Speaking on the cost of preserving City Hall

The event is free. An optional lunch is available for $10 at the museum cafe, and must be ordered in advance. (There will be an order form to send in with payment in the event brochure that will be available around town shortly. Or you can call the museum at 203-753-0381. )

Organized by: Connecticut Community Foundation, Connecticut Historical Commission, Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, Main Street Waterbury , Mattatuck Museum , Northwest Connecticut Convention & Visitors Bureau

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Industrialists' Design: Grand Street, Waterbury
Mattatuck Museum--History Bites
144 West Main Street
Waterbury, CT 06702.
Phone: 203-753-0381.

History Bites continues at the Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center with Raechel Guest, historian speaking on "Industrialists' Design: Grand Street, Waterbury" on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at noon. View the development of Waterbury's elegant gateway. Grand Street helped to beautify Waterbury, from the visions of industrialists Henry S. Chase and John H. Whittemore to the designs of nationally renowned architects. Reservations requested, but not required. Suggested donation $2

Politicking over City Hall

I made the mistake of watching channel 13. Larry DePillo and Karen Mulcahy are busy scaring up future votes. It's enough to make me sick to my stomach. They are casting aspersions about the current administration (specifically the Democrats) being corrupt and trying to swindle the taxpayers. I think it's great that someone is keeping close tabs on city government, but I think it's disgusting that they are doing it for their own personal reasons while claiming to be protecting the taxpayers. They are allowing political grievances and agendas to guide them, rather than genuine concern for the common good. Worse of all, they are using a tone of voice that causes the listener to react on an emotional level, rather than on a rational level. They are frightening viewers into reactive voting. This is politics at its worst.



Their current bone of contention is the proposal to build a new firehouse on Field Street, which would allow the existing firehouse to be converted for additional office space. DePillo and Mulcahy are insisting that no additional office space is needed, but the city is currently renting buildings around downtown because there isn't enough space. I suspect there are many good reasons for building a new firehouse. Pros and cons should be weighed carefully and thoughtfully. Slinging mud and whining about not being able to speak at a public hearing for more than five minutes when you get to speak weekly on television and you are in regular communication with the Board of Aldermen is just immature and irresponsible. This is why neither DePillo nor Mulcahy have been able to win mayoral elections.

It sounds to me like they are going to fight the new firehouse all the way to another referendum. This will probably end up pushing the project back another year. Costs are anticipated to rise 8% each year. The referendum costs $40,000. The cost of renting space for City Hall at Sovereign Bank is $396,000 per year. Currently, the estimated cost savings of not building the new firehouse is $3,267,561. Waiting another year will cost $3,305,433.

DePillo and Mulcahy, assuming they force a referendum (as suggested by Independent Party chairman Mike Telesca at the public hearing last week), will actually be costing the taxpayers a minimum of $37,872.

-------

An hour later... Dave Corbett's show is wonderful. He is clearly and carefully showing the ways in which DePillo and Telesca are misleading the public. I hope the people who watch DePillo also watch Corbett.

Tonight's Public Hearing

There was a public hearing in the Aldermanic Chamber tonight. Hardly anyone showed up. Maybe 52 people (as pointed out by Nick Augelli). The hearing was an opportunity for the taxpayers of Waterbury to have their say about the plans to renovate City Hall. Does the poor attendance mean that nobody cares? When the project was on the ballot, thousands of people voted on the topic. Fifty-two people showed up tonight. Some heard about it watching cable access. Personally, I believe the poor attendance was in large part the fault of the Republican-American. The big news in today's paper was tonight's public hearing in Naugatuck. No mention of the one here in Waterbury. They recently dropped Waterbury from their name; lately it has seemed more like the Naugatuck Republican-American. At least they remembered to send a reporter to cover the Waterbury hearing.

Most of the taxpayers who spoke tonight have spoken before on the subject. Some have spoken numerous times on the subject. Unfortunately, it sounds like the Independents want to waste more money with another referendum. A referendum costs $40,000 and a minimum of six months time. The longer it takes to get going with the project, the higher the costs are going to be. All aspects of the decision-making process have been open to the public. It seems like everyone agrees that we need to move forward with either Option 4 or Option 5 (view full details at http://www.nvdc.org/worxcms_published/news_page175.shtml).

The city taxpayers have had plenty of opportunities to let the aldermen know what they think. Now it's time for them to make a decision.

The hearing ended with a little bit of confusion. In 2005, the Board of Aldermen voted that public speaking at public hearings would be limited to 5 minutes per speaker. DePillo wanted to be able to speak for as long as he wanted. He wasn't willing to say how much time he wanted, but it sounded like a minimum of 15-30 minutes. He asked for more time when he got up to speak, after an hour of other speakers. Alderman Penerewski did a quick check of the rulebook and found that DePillo could be granted more time if the Board voted unanimously in favor. The vote was 6-4 in favor, so a majority, but not unanimous. Alderman Booker and several members of the public did not know what unanimous meant. I can understand the general public not knowing that word, but an Alderman should be familiar with the term, especially since he was on the Board of Aldermen when that rule was established.

City Hall and Pearl Lake Road

These were the two hot topics during the public speaking portion of tonight's Board of Aldermen meeting. Hopefully the plans to renovate City Hall can start moving forward this summer. The longer it takes to get started, the more money it's going to cost.

I don't know all the details of the plans for Pearl Lake Road, but it sounds like the plans are to turn this residential road into a highway. Most of the residents complained that the plans do not include sidewalks. This is one of the big problems (in my opinion) with Waterbury's city planning over the past several decades. There is no consideration given for pedestrians. The city needs to be pedestrian-friendly and pedestrian-safe. Speed limits need to be enforced. Neighboring towns have banded together to enhance their ability to enforce speed limits. Waterbury doesn't do anything to enforce the speed limit, and most drivers become very hostile if the car in front of them is doing "only" 30 in a 25 zone.

Sorry for being repetitive. I know I've ranted about this before!

City Hall Options

The Waterbury Development Corporation presented six options for the Waterbury City Hall building to the Board of Aldermen on Thursday night. The details of the options are available on their website at http://wdconline.org/worxcms_published/news_page175.shtml. Personally, I hope the aldermen choose option 5 or 6 (six is not specified in the link, but it is the original plan that was voted down at referendum; it will cost $1million more than option 5).

Yes, full renovation of the building and construction of a new firehouse will cost money, but in the long run it looks like the most economically sensible plan.

City Hall flooded again

According to today's paper, someone managed to walk into the basement of the city hall building and removed a six-foot long copper pipe, causing the basement to flood. This is the height of absurdity. Maybe there should be a little more security in the building. Heck, even the newspaper has better security than City Hall. Even just a reception desk in the front lobby would be a big help with building security, and it would be a big help for people trying to find the office they're looking for.

Interesting...

[update: as noted in the comments on this post, my letter was indeed published in today's paper. I'll try to stop being cranky now.]

On Sunday, I emailed a letter to the editor of the Waterbury Republican-American telling them that Narducci's plan for city hall is ill-conceived and half-baked (to use his own words). Today they ran a letter from someone who supports his plan. I don't care if they run my letter or not, but I do care that they present opposing opinions. I'll give it the rest of the week, but if they don't let their readers see that there is opposition to Narducci's plan, I'm going to get even more riled up than I already am. The Republican-American is always happy to expose corruption in city government, but what's going on in their own offices? What is Narducci's relationship to the newspaper? Why are they trying to push through his plan?

Stupidest Idea Yet

Today's Republican-American ran an article about the city hall building, written by D.A. Narducci III, an architect from Southbury. He proposes a partial demolition of the building, keeping the front courtyard, the front facade and the clock tower, and replacing everything else with a big box office building. His plan would reinstall certain interior elements, but replace most of the building with generic modern construction.

Is he a total idiot, or was this supposed to be sarcasm? You can't save just parts of the building and then reconstruct the rest. That's probably more expensive than a straight-forward restoration, and it is in direct conflict with restoration. If a building is worth restoring, you restore the entire building, maintaining its integrity. What he's proposing is, in fact, a total demolition with decorative bits and pieces of the original building tacked onto the new building.

Narducci's plan would require the city to hire an architect to review the costs and feasibility of the plan. Narducci is an architect. Is his article an effort to get the city to hire him?

I can't believe the newspaper ran this article, and I can't believe they ran it as a major piece in the Sunday Commentary. It's probably going to add a full month of debate to the issue, because at least one alderman is going to read it and think it's a good idea.

City Hall Frustrations

I've watched a portion of tonight's broadcast on the presentations about the city hall bonding issues. From what I can tell, most of our aldermen have no idea what they're talking about. They keep saying that modifying the first floor of the building to meet fire codes is not a "band-aid" or a temporary fix, that it's a permanent fix. Well, sure, new fire exits are permanent, but it doesn't solve the problems with the city hall building. There are still a lot of other repairs that need to be done, both structural and cosmetic. They go on and on about the estimated $48 million total cost, but they neglect to mention that a portion of that cost is for building a new firehouse. They also seem determined to ignore the fact that the costs are estimates, that the job specs haven't been finalized and that it hasn't been put out to bid.

It all seems very simple to me. Write up a list of the repairs that are needed. Put it out to bid. Let everyone know what the costs will be. Find the money to pay for it. Hire the appropriate contractors and make the repairs.

A comprehensive plan of improvement for all city facilities would be even better. Do a thorough inventory of all municipal buildings and their immediate and future needs. Let's start planning ahead instead of waiting until it's almost too late.

Waterbury City Hall

Waterbury's City Hall building is one of our great treasures. It was designed by Cass Gilbert (architect of NYC's Woolworth Building and the U.S. Supreme Court building) and built in 1914. Along with the four other Cass Gilbert buildings surrounding it, City Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building, however, is now yet another victim of our unpleasant recent past. Maintenance of the building was neglected for a long time, and it was further damaged by flooding from a sabotaged water pipe.


The ceiling of the front lobby. This looks like it mostly needs some fresh paint.

A proposal to appropriate and issue bonds for $48 million, to be used for the renovation of the building and the construction of a new firehouse on East Main Street, was rejected by voters on election day. I can certainly understand why some voters are afraid that the funds will be misappropriated, since that sort of thing happened frequently when Giordano was mayor. However, Giordano is long gone, and current-mayor Jarjura has not done anything to suggest he would misappropriate funds.


The ceiling of the stairwell... more fresh paint needed.

When the Palace Theater was still in worse shape than City Hall is now, there were plenty of people in Waterbury who didn't want to see it restored. They said it would cost too much, that it wasn't worth the effort, that the money would just get stolen by crooked developers, that we would be better off tearing it down (this idea makes me angry--we have these fabulous, beautiful, historic buildings; replacing them with something of equal quality would cost more than renovation; replacing them with something cheaper would be a tragedy).


A view up the main stairwell of Waterbury's city hall. How could anyone in their right mind suggest tearing this down???

All the same arguments against restoring the Palace are now being put forth against renovating City Hall. The Palace Theater was successfully renovated and is something we are all proud of. We should do the same for City Hall.


The bottom of a flag pole in front of City Hall.


The clock tower--it looks like the columns need to be scraped and repainted, and the dome might need some fresh gilding.


The window in the main stairwell. Again, how could anyone suggest destroying this? I'm very relieved that Jarjura has flatly stated that tearing it down is not going to happen. It would be such a nightmare if that were to happen! Waterbury would once again be ridiculed by the entire nation, and there would probably be a prolonged legal battle to prevent it from being destroyed.

The mayor will be meeting with the Board of Aldermen and the state oversight board on Tuesday next week to discuss options for saving city hall. At the very least, they need to bring it up to code so that it can be reoccupied. Renting office space is predicted to run as high as $800,000 a year. I don't like proposals to go ahead with the bonding even though it was voted down. Overriding the election results sets a bad precedent. If bonding really is the only way to go forward, then Jarjura should put some of his considerable funds into a campaign to save city hall and hold another referendum.

UPDATE 1/2/2011: Here are a few more shots I took the same day as the preceding images. For whatever reason, I didn't include them at the time.

Here's hoping we never see those vending machines return to the hallways!