Date: Fri 12-Sep-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

Booth-Library-project

Full Text:

Finishing Touches: Lighting the Library With Antique Chandeliers

(with photos)

(Editor's Note: Over the next three weeks, The Newtown Bee will focus on some

of the finishing touches that will grace Newtown's newly expanded and

renovated Booth Library. What follows is Dorothy Evans' first report in the

series.)

BY DOROTHY EVANS

You could say that from this point on, it's all cosmetics.

After more than a year, the $4.1 million Cyrenius H. Booth Library addition

and renovation project is nearly complete, awaiting only a Certificate of

Occupancy (CO) and the delivery of furniture and books.

Both outside and in, from landscaping and brick walkways to carpets, freshly

painted walls, refurbished chandeliers, a hand-crafted circulation desk and

three separate hand-painted murals, the finishing touches are extensive.

Members of the library staff and the Library Board of Trustees have been

visiting the Main Street building almost daily to monitor progress. They are

excited by what they see beneath the drop cloths and beyond the painters'

ladders.

"It's going to be something that the whole town can stand back and say, `I'm

proud of this building,'" board member Chris Spiro said Wednesday morning.

A patterned carpet links the old and the new spaces and provides the color

themes for the various rooms.

A hand-crafted circulation desk counter has been built to incorporate wood

from a favorite English horse chestnut, a large tree that was cut down behind

the library a year ago to make room for the new addition.

Murals by local artists are being painted on the walls of the meeting room,

the children's library and the ladies' powder rooms.

Over the next few weeks, The Newtown Bee will take a look at these finishing

touches and at the local craftsmen involved in making them.

More Than A Bare Bulb

It has been board member Chris Spiro's job to see about the library lighting.

This has meant contracting for the services of a professional restorer to

refurbish and polish the antique chandeliers and sconces that were installed

when the old building was constructed in 1932.

Made by Tiffany, the brass and pewter fixtures had become badly tarnished and

their original wiring had grown brittle.

When they were taken down, it was clear the fixtures would have to be cleaned

and rewired if they were to be used again.

Faced with the question of what to do, the board decided that the old

chandeliers and sconces represented an important part of the library's

historic character. Although refinishing and rewiring would be an expensive

undertaking, they did not want to use modern fluorescent light fixtures

instead.

"We received several large donations from private sources," Mr Spiro said, and

the work was done over this past summer by Southbury-based professional

restorer David Swann.

On Saturday, September 6, Mr Swann and his assistant delivered six of the

largest brass and pewter chandeliers, as well as boxes filled with hardware

and sockets.

"They're at least 40 pounds each when fully assembled - more when you add the

weights at the bottom," Mr Swann told Mr Spiro.

Mr Spiro remarked that re-wiring the chandeliers and refitting all the pieces

looked to be a very complicated job.

That was "the easy part," replied Mr Swann with a smile, saying that polishing

and lacquering had taken more hours than he'd counted on in the estimate.

"I worked on them when I could, a little at a time," he said.

Mr Spiro said Wednesday he was looking forward to meeting with the electrical

contractor to see when the chandeliers could be hung from the ceilings and

walls where they belonged.

"I hate to see those beautiful things lying on the floor," Mr Spiro said.

Hoping for a Friday CO

In order to get the CO, the library must have lights - but not necessarily

chandeliers. For now, bare light bulbs have been placed here and there on

inexpensive fixtures.

They should "do the job," said board member Kathy Geckle, who toured the

library Tuesday afternoon to see how things were moving along.

"We've only got one table lamp and two floor lamps otherwise and,

unfortunately, those are in storage somewhere in Bethel," she added.

Throughout the winter, Mrs Geckle and former board member Pat Denlinger have

been working together on many of the decorating decisions.

Their choices are reflected in color themes of soft green, antique rose and

deep maroon that are being used for the various rooms and that were picked up

from colors in the patterned carpet, Mrs Geckle said.

"Nothing too contemporary. We wanted a pattern to suit an older building and

picked this one from swatches. It was very exciting... and a bit scary...

until we saw it made up," Mrs Geckle said.

"The furniture is coming Monday and so we've got to have it all laid down,"

she said.

Board member Bill Lavery said Tuesday that a cleaning company was scheduled to

come in Thursday, September 11.

Little by little, the "new/old" library is coming together.