YOUNGSTOWN COUNCIL Workers restore chambers

History is being preserved in a city hall restoration project.
YOUNGSTOWN -- City council chambers are being restored to their original 1914-vintage grandeur.
The largely-intact original ceiling, painted in six earth-tone colors, has been fully exposed and work is under way in council chambers, where architect Ronald Cornell Faniro said restoration is to be finished about June 30. The ceiling colors are three tones of beige, two tones of red and a burnished gold.
The work includes cleaning and repainting the ceiling, electrical rewiring, new decorative lighting, furniture refinishing and installation of new carpeting and a new sound system.
Renovations are to be completed in council's caucus room by the end of this month and are 99 percent complete in the council clerk's office, he added. The project is at least two months ahead of schedule and under budget, Faniro said.
"I think it's something we can all be proud of. I think this will be a lasting testimony," for future generations, said Councilman Rufus Hudson, D-2nd, chairman of council's buildings and grounds committee.
Sitting on folding chairs, the committee met Thursday in council chambers, which was illuminated only by the late-afternoon sun.
Council plans to hold its Wednesday meeting in its chambers, said Arlene Thompson, council clerk. Other meetings during the restoration may have to be moved for safety reasons to a municipal courtroom, she said.
Committee members said they'd like to have an open house to showcase the restoration after the work is completed.