Buttenwieser Hall
While the 92nd Street Y has been located on 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue since 1900, it wasn’t until 1929 that the current 92NY building was constructed. Buttenwieser Hall originally served as a worship space, but has been repositioned into a multi-use space for education and performances. Buttenwieser Hall’s decorative ceiling is poured concrete cast in wooden formwork and painted in a faux bois style to look like wooden beams. The ceiling was decorated by renowned artist Vincent Maragliotti who utilized motifs depicting Jewish iconography, including figurative scenes, symbols, and geometric patterns. Beyer Blinder Belle brought in EverGreene in March 2022 for a conditions assessment during the design development phase. The conditions assessment included a hands-on examination from a lift, cleaning tests, and the deterioration of the ceiling mapped on a drawing. The assessment informed the treatment plan we then developed for the ceiling conservation scope as part of the overall renovation of Buttenwieser Hall’s transformation into a performing arts space.
EverGreene was contracted to perform the ceiling restoration in early 2023, which started with mockups of concrete patching and decorative paint restoration. Following mockups, our team completed concrete patching at areas of deterioration to arrest further decay, removal of anchors and equipment using compatible materials and tooling to match the faux bois texture. EverGreene then did an overall surface cleaning, consolidation to stabilize the paint, varnish to provide a consistent sheen, and inpainting at seven locations of significant damage and visible paint losses using modern paints to match the historic colors and sheen.
