Charles Pedretti

Cincinnati Enquirer - May 10, 2006
City hall may contain treasure
Project to see if mural underneath
BY DAN KLEPAL | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Workers at Cincinnati City Hall will begin peeling back the years this week - along with decades-old paint, glue and acoustical tile - from the ceiling inside council chambers in an attempt to uncover a mystery.
The effort could lead to a larger project to restore a piece of the city's history, covered more than 70 years ago.
It is believed that local artist Charles Pedretti, a world-famous muralist who lived in Price Hill, painted the ceiling of council chambers as part of a $25,000 contract he won to be the interior designer when the building was under construction from 1888 to 1893.
The murals were covered with acoustical tiles in the 1930s because it was difficult to hear debates of the day in the enormous room.
No one has seen the murals since they were covered, and there are few photographs taken before 1935 that show any part of the ceiling.
Pedretti complained in 1935 to an Enquirer reporter about his work being buried.
"Pedretti lamented the fact that cherubs and artistic figures which he painted on the ceiling of council chambers have been covered up in the city's program of improving acoustics of the auditorium," says the article. Another clue can be found in the official dedication program, dated May 13, 1893, which provides this description of the chambers: "The panels of the ceilings are frescoed with seals of the nation, of the state, of the county and of the city."
Scaffolding will be installed in council chambers Monday, so a small section of the tiles can be removed during the next two weeks.
Joel Koopman, principal architect for the city, said Pedretti's murals were probably painted on plaster and canvas. It will cost $5,000 to study a small portion of the ceiling, and that is being done before routine maintenance is performed.
"It's time to paint and restore some water damage," Koopman said. "But we want to do this investigation before that work, so we don't do any more damage if it is something that can be restored."
If the murals are salvageable, the next step will be to figure out how much it will cost and how to pay for it. Any restoration work could be years off, Koopman said.
The local architectural firm of Fearing & Hagenauer will supervise the project. And staff from the Cincinnati Art Museum will evaluate the murals.
Stephen Bonadies, interim co-director of the museum, said the type of glue used to attach the tiles could make all the difference.
"If the glue can be softened or dissolved, it's possible to remove it," Bonadies said. "If it's something like a more modern adhesive, like carpenter's glue, (restoration) would be quite a task."
Pedretti was trained in Italy before retuning to Cincinnati and opening a business with his brother. They painted murals in houses and municipal buildings in the city.
A 1990 maintenance project in council chambers didn't include a peek at the murals. The city considered removing all the acoustical tiles, but determined the $300,000 price tag was too expensive.
"We don't believe it is high art," then-superintendent of architecture Ronald Kull said at the time, adding that removal of the tiles would likely "rip up the canvas."
Koopman said acoustics wouldn't suffer much if the tiles are removed from the ceiling. There's a state-of-the-art sound system in the chambers today. He also said placing tiles over artwork isn't the only questionable design decision made.
Over the years, he said, shag carpeting and wood paneling were placed over marble in the mayor's office.
But Koopman says people nowadays shouldn't be too critical of decisions made decades ago.
"I don't fault them. That's just the way they did things," Koopman said. "They had an issue, they put tile in. It was a different time. But with everything we do today, we are mindful of what City Hall is - a historic piece of architecture.
"And this is a special project."
(Note:  The 1930 U.S. Federal Census lists Charles and "Mina" Pedretti residing on Pedretti Ave in the Delhi - the western area of Cincinnati. Charles' Occupation: Interior Decorator.)
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1. Michael Betscher (1793-1861)
   2. Caspar Betscher (1823-1877)
      3. Wilhelmina Betscher-Pedretti (1864-1945)
          Charles Pedretti (1864-1941)
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