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A return to past glory
HISTORIC RENOVATIONS: Changes are planned for several of CW's main
points of interest as it prepares for Jamestown 2007.
BY VICTOR REKLAITIS
223-5682
November 20, 2005
WILLIAMSBURG -- In the next couple of months, take a last look at the
muskets on the ceiling in the Governor's Palace.

By mid-February, Colonial Williamsburg will have removed the striking,
sunburst-shaped arrangement of muskets from the palace's front hall.

It's one of the more visible changes that will occur at CW's museums
and historic points of interest during the tourist site's slower,
colder months. Workers also will refurbish the palace's supper room,
its so-called "upper middle room" and its bedrooms.

In addition, the Public Hospital and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative
Arts Museum will close in early March, as their sprinkler systems are
replaced. And construction will continue on the Abby Aldrich
Rockefeller Folk Art Museum's new building, which should be finished
in about one year.

The work is not uncommon for the slower months at CW. But CW spokesman
Jim Bradley said some of it is also in preparation for the Jamestown
2007 commemoration, which is expected to boost visitation throughout
the Historic Triangle. "2007 is going to be, we hope, a big year for
this entire region," he said.

At the Governor's Palace, the work marks the first major refurbishing
there in about 25 years. The changes are intended to put a greater
focus on the revolutionary period, according to Robert Leath, CW's
curator for historic interiors.

The changes are tied to CW's new Revolutionary City program, which is
intended to bring the 1774-1783 period to life in the streets of the
Historic Area.

Currently, the palace's look is at least partly based on an inventory
taken at the time of Gov. Botetourt's death in 1770 - years before the
American Revolution began.

After a closure from Jan. 16 until about Feb. 18, the palace will more
closely resemble the home of Botetourt's successor, Gov. Dunmore.

As part of this reinterpretation, CW has determined that the sunburst
of muskets should come down.

In the 18th century, that kind of arrangement was rare, and it's
better to present more typical arms displays, Leath said. But visitors
still will get their fill of swords, pistols and muskets, as
arrangements on the front hall's walls are revamped.

"There will be so many arms on the walls, you won't even look at the
ceiling," Leath said.

Another big change at the palace will affect a second floor room known
as the "upper middle room."

In the days of Botetourt, who was unmarried, the Governor's Palace was
a bachelor pad, albeit a grand one.

But his successor had a wife and several children, so the upper middle
room will become a lady's dressing and sitting room.

"This is the female hub of the home," Leath said.

Two bedrooms will be reinterpreted to suit Dunmore's children, one for
the daughters and their French governess and the other for the sons.

Overall, Leath is hoping the palace's new look will appeal more to
families.

Downstairs, only one room besides the front hall will experience major
refurbishing.

The supper room is currently presented as a mostly bare space
undergoing renovation, as it was in 1770.

By mid-February, visitors will see a colorful carpet, wallpaper with
gilt borders and new furniture in the supper room, just before they
step out into the palace's garden.

"The last room will no longer be an unfurnished room," Leath said.

A few blocks to the south, the work at the Public Hospital and one
part of the DeWitt Wallace museum - its introductory gallery - is
slated to last about three months, closing those spots from early
March to late May.

For the rest of the DeWitt Wallace museum, the sprinkler system
overhaul will close it from early March until the end of 2006.

The sprinkler system, which is about 20 years old, has collected dust,
corroded and developed a few leaks, said Bradley, the CW spokesman.

Fortunately, none of the decorative arts collection has been damaged,
he said.

Visitors still will get to see a bit of the DeWitt Wallace museum's
collection, even while much of it remains closed. A sampling from the
museum's "Masterworks" gallery will be displayed in the introductory
gallery from late May through December 2006, Bradley said.

Next to the DeWitt Wallace museum, work on the new building for the
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum has been ongoing for about
nine months. The $6 million construction project is expected to last
until December 2006 or January 2007.

A number of CW's highlights will not see significant changes in the
coming months.

The Capitol is slated to get life-sized royal portraits to resemble
what hung there during the American Revolution, but no major
reinterpretation. And one museum - Bassett Hall, an 18th century home
that served as a Rockefeller family residence - will remain open
continually, even while the other museums are closed from early March
to late May.

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