By Marilyn Bauer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The opening of Taft Museum of Art's $19 million renovation and addition has been pushed back from late summer to late January. Because of the wet spring of 2002 and the frigid winter, construction is months behind schedule.

The exterior structure of the addition, designed to be compatible with the Federal style of the historic Taft home, at 316 Pike St., downtown, is in place. Construction workers are installing Hardy board (gypsum) siding on the rear building walls. The addition sits on top of the 70-car parking garage that soon will be painted the same cream color as the house.

The addition's infrastructure - gas, water, sewer, sprinkler system - has been completed. When the red cedar siding goes up on the walls of the inner courtyard, garden designers will install brick pavers outlining the formal garden space.

The spiral staircase that will define the Dr. Stanley and Mickey Kaplan Lobby is about to be delivered and will be installed in the addition's entryway, which faces East Fifth Street.

The expansion, which approximately doubles the museum's size, will hold a special exhibitions gallery, performance/lecture hall, an expanded museum shop and a tearoom. The former special exhibitions gallery in the main house, which was built about 1820, will be converted into permanent classroom and studio space.

Inside the Taft home workmen are installing smoke detectors and fire alarms.

"We are in the second phase of asbestos abatement," says Taft spokesperson Tamera Muente. "The installation of the secondary safety equipment requires cutting into the walls where asbestos is, so the house is currently closed to everyone else. While this is happening, crews are working on the house's copper roof. That is about two-thirds done."

This is the first renovation the Taft has undergone since it opened as a museum in 1932. The conservation and restoration aspect consists of upgrading the electrical, heating and cooling systems. The final two air-conditioning units are about to be installed and gallery lighting in the music room and several other galleries have already gone in.

In addition, the home will be completely refurbished to show the evolution of American interior design from the late Federal period (c. 1820) through Colonial Revival (c. 1920), including historically accurate wall colors, floor coverings and draperies. Historic plasterwork and selections from the American Federal furniture collection are also being conserved to illustrate the changing tastes of the owners of the home.

"The plaster conservator was here last week working on the plaster medallions in the foyer," Muente explains. "She's uncovered quite a bit and she'll be back again once we get closer to doing the finishing touches."

Once the home renovations are completed, the museum's staff will begin reinstalling the entire permanent collection, estimated to take six months.

During the closure, the permanent collection has been placed in secure, climate-controlled storage with select masterpieces on loan to major museums throughout the nation.