Over the past two months, the exterior of the big old wooden building has been painstakingly reinvigorated.
The structure has remained striking and stylish in its utilitarian simplicity. But the original paint job faded and was replaced long enough ago that the new coat, too, was severely faded. Some of the wooden façade also needed repair.
 DAILY NEWS PHOTOS/Marcelle Hanemann After two months of painstaking historic renovation work by a crew from the General Maintenance Corporation, the Bogalusa City Hall, which had faded and deteriorated, now glistens in the summer sun. Advertisement |
The crew from General Maintenance Corporation of Kenner had to follow strict guidelines so as not to damage the historical integrity of City Hall.
That meant hand-scraping off the old paint and hand-applying the new coat.
“They did a great job,” McGehee said. “It is amazing that they were able to do all that work in two months’ time. And it was all by hand. They hand-scraped and painted by hand. It’s not sand-blasted and sprayed like it was the last time many, many years ago. They did it like it was specified for historic renovation.”
The next phase includes replacement of the air conditioning and heating system in the 93-year-old municipal building, he said.
During its last session, the Louisiana Legislature approved $300,000 for the restoration project.
McGehee said he’s happy the funding finally came together.
“I am extremely happy with the renovation of this historic building,” he said. “It needed to be done a long time ago.
Comments
Bob Lawrence wrote on Jul 23, 2010 11:53 AM: