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The building depicted above
is New York City's third City Hall. Constructed
from 1803-1812, it was designed by John McComb,
Jr. and Joseph-Francois Mangin. The building
has undergone many restorations during its almost
two hundred-year history. The original copper
roof of City Hall was installed in 1811; it was
replaced in 1853, and five years later, due to
fire damage, replaced again. Additional work
on the roof was undertaken in the early part
of this century. Since that time, the last recorded
work on the roof was undertaken in 1970, when
roof openings were installed to accommodate new
air conditioning units. Images
of City Hall through the century.
The condition of City
Hall's roof has been evident for the
last few years to the many employees
and visitors who have noticed the severe
water damage occurring throughout the
public rooms and offices. From March
1998 to October 1998, the City Hall Roof
will be undergoing a much-needed, major
restoration. Extensive measurements,
drawings, and molds of the clocktower's
distinctive decorative elements have
already been completed. The cupola has
been demolished down to the supporting
steel structure and a reinforced fiberglass
structure will be placed on top of the
building in its stead. This structure
will be sheathed in copper, and then
painted, as historical evidence suggests,
was the original dome. The remainder
of the roof will also be replaced with
new substrate materials and new copper.
The sculpture of Justice
on top of the cupola on City Hall is
the third such sculpture to stand atop
this building and will be restored as
part of the City Hall Roof Restoration
project. Painted to resemble carved stone,
Justice is constructed much like the
Statue of Liberty, composed of lightweight
pieces of sheet copper soldered together
and supported on an internal armature.
Nearby Civic Virtue on top of the tower
of the Municipal Building is also composed
in a similar fashion, but is gold-leafed,
whereas the Statue of Liberty has been
allowed to take on a green patina typical
of weathered copper.
Unlike the Statue
of Liberty or Civic Virtue, which were
the creations of famous sculptors, the
Justice atop City Hall is an example
of the skills of nineteenth-century manufacturing.
Justice is a mass-produced sculpture,
fabricated by the firm of William H.
Mullins studio at a cost of $600, which
made countless figures for public buildings
and expositions. The Mullins studio also
custom-produced such famous pieces as
Saint-Gaudens' lovely copper Diana Weathervane
that formerly adorned the original Madison
Square Garden and is now at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art.
City Hall's first
sculpture of Justice was commissioned
by its architects while the building
was under construction. That figure,
depicted without a blindfold, was the
work of John Dixey, a sculptor trained
in London, who received $310 for his
work. The first Justice was carved of
wood, and adorned the building until
it was destroyed in 1858, when fireworks
set off to celebrate the laying of the
Atlantic cable started a fire on the
roof of City Hall. As the roof and cupola
burned, so did the statue of Justice,
which dramatically crashed through the
ceiling of City Hall and into the rotunda.
In May of 1860, a new wooden Justice
was installed on the rebuilt cupola.
However, by 1887 the wood was so deteriorated
that it was necessary to replace it.
Restoration of the
sculpture will require its removal from
the site. The sculpture has been thoroughly
measured, photographed, and documented
and its restoration will be undertaken
by the same conservators that so successfully
completed the restoration of Civic Fame.
In order to remove the sculpture from
City Hall, the arms of the art work will
be detached and additional internal support
will be installed. The sculpture will
then be lifted by crane to a truck, where
it will be transported to the conservator's
studio, Les Metalliers Champenois in
Paterson, NJ.
The roof restoration
project and the conservation of the sculpture
of Justice has been reviewed and approved
by the Landmarks Preservation Commission,
by the Art Commission, and by the City-wide
Office for Safety and Health, part of
the Department of Citywide Administrative
Services. The project team includes the
architectural firm Kenneth Hewes Barricklo
Architect; consultant engineers Robert
Silman Associates, P.C.; general contractor
Barney Skanska; and the conservators,
Les Metalliers Champenois. The sculpture
project will be completed in tandem with
the restoration of the roof.
In addition, several
City agencies have contributed their
expertise to this complex undertaking,
including the Economic Development Corporation,
the Department of City-wide Administrative
Services, the Office of the Mayor, the
Landmarks Preservation Commission, and
the Art Commission of the City of New
York.
If you would like to support the restoration
of City Hall and its collections, please
contact NYC Public/Private Initiatives
at 212-788-1500.
Images and text provided by the New
York City Art Commission.
For more historical information on
New York City, visit our Centennial
Celebration page.
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