Ringling Museum of Art Service Gates

The 66-acre John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art has two historic service gates that provide access to the drive on the north side of the museum complex. The entrance consists of two, two-leaf swinging gates and one fixed fence section. Museum staff and vendors currently use the northern swinging gate; the southern gate is not currently used. The gate was fabricated using a number of different types of iron elements including hollow tubes and channels, rolled bar stock, forged iron, and cast iron.

The ironwork had widespread paint failure and extensive corrosion and rust jacking where galvanizing had failed. Many of the straps fastening sections together were deformed from rust-jacking.

After assessing the condition and providing treatment recommendations, we performed conservation treatment of the gates and associated fence section, main entrance gate, and one iron window grille. The service gates and window grille were treated offsite, while the main entrance gate was treated in place. The removed sections were blasted, reassembled and coated with a high performance system. Iron worked on-site was approached with a more localized maintenance treatment. Detailed treatment documentation and maintenance recommendations were provided to the client.