In the construction industry, there is usually no such thing as a “pleasant” surprise. However, when such a surprise occurred recently during renovation of the old historic Kansas City Public Library building, it was a Gladstone, Missouri painting and wallpaper contractor, Ron Goens of Goens Brothers, Inc., who provided the answer to how to save the surprise.   

   The historic library is located at 900 Locust in downtown Kansas City.

   According to Susan Richards Johnson, architect for the renovation and restoration project, the removal of an 11 foot high suspended plaster ceiling in the room that became the first home of the Nelson Gallery of Art revealed an intricate, hand painted fresco ceiling consisting of large 14 foot by­14 foot flat areas set between diver beams and girded by side vaulted barrel coves. The 3,300 square foot ceiling was concealed during a 1935 modernization project.  

   Ozark National Life Insurance Company, owner of the building, and Fairbanks, Inc., lessee of the area, both agreed that the ceiling should be restored to its original grandeur. The question was how to achieve such splendor without bankrupting everyone involved. Johnson gives credit to Goens for solving the dilemma. “I originally wanted to stencil the flat portions of the ceiling and then hand paint the remaining areas, but that was cost prohibitive,” Johnson said. “Also, we found that to match the original colors, we needed a special chemical analysis process that is only available on the East Coast.”

   “Ron’s idea was to transfer the ceiling design onto vinyl wall covering via silk screening. It was the perfect solution at an affordable cost.” It also was an idea that required the patience, perseverance, and skill of several Kansas City professionals. Because the ceiling had faded and deteriorated since the building was constructed in 1895-97, Wanda Simmons, a freelance artist, was hired to trace small sections of the existing design onto onion skin paper. The work required Simmons to mount a 20 foot scaffold that had been specially constructed for her by Goens. The scaffold included fenced sides, allowing her more physical freedom when tracing the barrel sides as well as removing her fear of falling.

   Lisa Lassman Briscoe, a renovation consultant for the Historic Kansas City Foundation, also used the scaffold as she worked to provide an interpretation of the original colors. Her process included using a scalpel to clean a small area of each color of subsequent paint and surface soil. Briscoe also made a shallow bevel through all the paint’s layers, exposing each color down to the plaster. According to her final report, the ceiling’s original color scheme consisted of 22 different colors.