exterior terra cotta restoration of milwaukee's city hall building ongoing

over the weekend i managed to document the ongoing restoration of milwaukee's treasured city hall building (1895) designed by henry c. koch in the flemish renaissance revival style.

j.p. cullen & sons was the primary contractor that "completed" the restoration of more than 13,000 terra cotta units on the historic building back in 2008.

in february of 2011, three five pound pieces of terra cotta fell from the building to the sidewalk. fortunately, no one was injured. since that time, j.p. cullen & sons has worked cooperatively with the city to assess the condition of newly installed terra cotta units, protect the public from any potential harm and determine the best means to permanently restore the terra cotta to the historic structure.

despite lawsuits and millions more spent over the years to address the damage done since work was completed in december of 2008, the landmark building remains shrouded in scaffolding.

terra cotta components fabricated this year (see images below) are being hoisted upwards to replace the damaged pieces from either the 2008 "restoration" or perhaps, newly detected facade elements from the time of construction in 1895 that are severely comprised.