DPS purchases remaining third of City Hall building
Comet staff report

DPS officers New Delphi Preservation Society officers elected July 19 are, from left: Greg Norman, vice president; Anita Werling, president; Dick Traeger, treasurer; and Bethanny Cougill, secretary. Comet photo

The Delphi Preservation Society (DPS) recently completed the purchase of the remaining onethird of the Assion-Ruffing City Hall building with its third-floor Opera House from Delphi Properties LLC. This clears the way for DPS to proceed with restoration activities that will ultimately restore the Opera House as a performing arts venue.

When complete the grand hall will once again resound with applause, laughter, and the awe of audiences enjoying community theater, musical recitals, poetry readings, band performances, lecture series, classic movies…or just the beauty of the Opera House itself.

A fresh face

Restoration is already underway on the façade of the building, funded by grants from national, regional, and local sources as well as donations of money, time, and elbow grease from many individuals. By the end of the summer, the City Hall building will have a freshened face with its cornice, windows, and balcony restored to how they might have appeared in the late 1800s. Striped canvas awnings will replace the vinyl, wood shake, and aluminum awnings that have covered the storefronts and will provide a unified historic look to the street level of the building.

The recent finding of a leaded, prismatic glass transom over the center storefront has led to a change in plans for the façade restoration. The leaded glass transom that was once over the space where The White Iris is now located, was carefully removed and stored in the opera house during a remodeling of Wynkoop Pharmacy. This transom has a center section of purple glass with "C.O. Julius" in orange letters for the clothing store once located in this storefront.

DPS plans to reinstall this transom in a copper frame with a copper awning hood to match those over the other two storefronts. In a few more weeks, the vinyl awning over Jenny's Grill will be removed in hopes of uncovering a leaded glass transom there as well. These restored transoms will return the storefronts to their appearance in the early to mid-1900s when most of the storefronts north of the alley had prismatic glass.

Sponsors needed

These discoveries will add another interesting dimension to the look of the City Hall building and to downtown Delphi. However, the transoms were not part of the equation when DPS was developing a budget for the façade restoration. As a result, the project is going to cost more than originally planned.

DPS will have an estimate soon on fabricating the copper frame and awning hood and reinstalling the glass transom. To provide an interesting look to the street at night, DPS wants to backlight all of the transoms.

Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor for one of the transoms, may contact Anita Werling at awerling@delphipreservationsociety. org or call 765/564- 2169.