NEW BEDFORD - New architectural exterior lighting illuminates the recently restored historic façade of New Bedford City Hall which dates back to 1857.  The building’s new exterior lighting is part of a project to restore and maintain the exterior and interior of the center of New Bedford city government.  Until recently, City Hall had accumulated a backlog of deferred maintenance that threatened the safety and beauty of the historic structure.  The repairs and renovations to City Hall and other municipal facilities are being managed by the City’s Department of Facilities and Fleet Management led by Director Kenneth Blanchard.

City Hall’s new exterior lighting system is energy efficient, programmable and includes color-changing technology—currently the building is illuminated in red and green after sunset for the holidays.  The lighting system, designed at no cost by Mike Cotter, P.E. of SAR Engineering, highlights the main entrance which features a grand two-story portico supported by Corinthian columns and a massive carved brownstone pediment. The pediment features a detailed carving of the City seal surrounded by images that recall the city’s whaling and textile industries; whaling ships and whale oil casks as well as textile mills with billowing chimneys. Two LED lamps are positioned above the portico and a third lamp is trained on the large City Seal and surrounding frieze.  The system was installed by New Bedford electrical contractor MV Electric.

The lighting highlights a major project to restore the historic portico over the front entryway completed by the City earlier this year. For 15 years, the portico was shored up with unsightly wooden planking because water had penetrated its copper cap, weakening parts of the stone structure to such a degree that bits of brownstone were falling from the building.

The City contracted with Baystate Restoration to remove the deteriorated brownstone and worked with a Canadian brownstone quarry to produce replacement stonework and piece it together with the existing structure.  The finished product is a stately entrance that is both structurally sound and maintains the historic architecture of the building’s façade.  Earlier this year, the New Bedford Preservation Society presented an award to the City of New Bedford for the City Hall restoration project.

The project is one component of the City’s Capital Improvement Program, which has funded repairs and renovations to municipal facilities including parks, beaches, and police and fire stations.  Capital Improvement Plan-funded renovations to City Hall also include replacement of the building’s windows, interior renovations, life-safety improvements, and the elimination of the obsolete drive-up window on the building’s west side.

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