Asheville City Council honors Restoration Program

Jan Trainor watches Tim Hanlon cast plaster at Restoration workshop.

The text below is from the mayoral proclamation presented  Tuesday, June 28.  Stay tuned for PSABC remarks from same meeting!!

WHEREAS, the Decorative Restoration program at A-B Technical Community College was founded in 1988 as a cooperative venture with the Biltmore Estate. Students have come from as far away as Alaska and Vermont to take advantage of the only full-time program of its kind in the country, which graduated its final class this year; and

          WHEREAS, the program has graduated nearly 300 students, all skilled artisans, a number of whom have begun thriving restoration businesses all across the country and have worked on the restoration of historic artifacts and buildings, churches and cathedrals; and

WHEREAS, two passionate and visionary teachers have guided the Decorative Restoration program during its 23 years: Derick Tickle, a master craftsman who previously taught for London’s distinguished City & Guilds, arrived from England in 1989 and directed the program until his retirement in 2005 when Tim Hanlon, a 1997 graduate of the program, took over its leadership; and

         

WHEREAS, we have these two instructors and their students to thank for the beautifully restored ceiling of the County Courthouse, which took six years to complete, and for the uniquely decorative foyer and Council Chamber of City Hall; and

WHEREAS, we appreciate the program’s philosophy that the greenest building is the one already built. The Decorative Restoration program has helped keep Asheville’s heritage intact for today and tomorrow. Through its contributions, Asheville’s citizens learn to appreciate our historic buildings, their decoration and construction, and to preserve them for future generations.

          NOW, THEREFORE, I, Terry Bellamy, Mayor of the City of Asheville, do hereby recognize the

                   Decorative Restoration Program

at A-B Technical College as an exemplary program, which has made a significant contribution in the preservation of historic buildings in Asheville.

          IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Asheville, North Carolina, to be affixed this 28^th day of June, 2011.

                                                          ___________________________

                                                                TERRY M. BELLAMY

                                                                             MAYOR

Window repair station in Auditorium, teaching restoration skills.