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Jersey City - City Hall, Jersey City, NJ (1895)Copper cornice restoration, architectural sheet metal, metal roofing restoration, flat roofing, decorative copper columns and finials Chief Architect: Robert M. Cerchio |
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Below: Jersey City City Hall Cornice Restoration
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PROJECT OVERVIEW: In the late 1970's, a fire occurred at Jersey City's City Hall, and within a few weeks, plans were underway to restore this landmark building to its original elegance.
It was not until the early 1990's that the plans and specifications were finally completed, approved and ready for bids. One of the unique features of this competitive bid process was that the ornamental sheet metal contractor and ornamental sheet metal supplier had to be pre-qualified to work on this historic project. The pre-qualification required, in addition to background information on previous projects, recommendations from architects and owners, required a submittal of a full-sized mock-up in copper of an ornate piece of one of the tower's ornamentation. These mockups were submitted to the architectural department of Jersey City for their inspection and approval and had part of the ornamentation to include press curved pieces. The original bid documents were drawn up to include the complete removal of all existing copper on the entire roof, towers and the installation of a complete restoration back to the original facade of the building. This also included the installation of new and restored typaniums, figurines, settings and other decorative artisan copperwork. This project took approximately two years to complete in its entirety and encompassed the restoration of two existing towers and the rebuilding of the two burnt-out towers.
When originally built, all the copperwork was painted to match the limestone of the building facade. So to maintain the 'historic fabric' of this landmark building, all the new copper was painted to its original 'limestone' color.
The work also included the removal of the existing temporary shingles and replacement with a new 1" high double lock standing seam roof. The material used for the 20,000 sq. ft. metal standing seam roofing was 24 gauge galvanized metal with Kynar finish that had an aged copper color. The material was run through a 1" high standing seam pan former.
The cornices on the main building were in bad condition and 75% of them had to be removed. The interior bracing support system had to be renewed using similar methods of construction as originally used over hundred years ago. Over 25,000 pounds of Revere copper was used in this restoration.
The supplier of the pressed metal ornamentation and the restoration of the existing metal typaniums on this project was restored and fabricated by LMC Corporation of Paterson, NJ. LMC’s first work in the US was the restoration of the Statue of Liberty. They have completed a number of successful historic restorations with Schtiller & Plevy in the Metropolitan area. LMC’s parent company is in France and is the original fabricator of the Statue of Liberty.