ALTON - A painting of the Lucy Haskell Playhouse will hang in Alton City Hall after the community came together to restore it.
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When Third Ward Alderman Ray Strebel found the painting in storage, he contacted Chair of the Alton Historical Commission Douglas Bader. Strebel and Bader decided to raise money to restore the painting. Bader said the goal was to honor artist Ruth Means and commemorate the Haskell Playhouse’s 50th anniversary on the National Register of Historic Places. The community is invited to a ceremony to celebrate the restoration.
“We looked at this as sort of a three-fold project,” Bader explained. “One, we were going to be able to restore the painting. It was also going to be a way to honor the painter Ruth Means, who was a prolific painter, well-known in Alton. And also, the subject matter was the Haskell Playhouse, which, of course, is a beloved building here in Alton.”
Strebel, a mayoral candidate, worked with Bader to raise awareness about the painting. The painting is between 50–60 years old, and “it really has sort of suffered,” Bader said, with flaking paint and rips in the canvas.
They commissioned Szelag Art Conservancy to restore the work. But with the conservator preparing to retire, they had “a very short window” in which to raise the money needed.
They turned to the community, and Alton responded. Residents contributed over $3,500 toward the painting’s restoration.
Now, with the painting restored and hanging on the second floor of Alton City Hall, Bader and Strebel invite the community to come out and celebrate. At 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, there will be an unveiling ceremony at City Hall.
Bader emphasized the importance of preserving art and history. He noted that Ruth Means herself was “a tremendous preservationist,” and she was the one who nominated the Haskell Playhouse to the National Register of Historic Places 50 years ago.
Means died in 2002 and, as far as Bader knows, didn’t have any children. If community members knew her or shared a relation, he encourages them to stop by the ceremony and introduce themselves.
He said the painting restoration has been “a labor of love” for him and Strebel, and he thanked the community for their support in making it happen. He hopes to see many people at the ceremony on Jan. 23 to honor the art and history of Alton.
“Our historic nature of Alton is one of the great big selling points of our community, and one we love,” he added. “This is just a great opportunity to celebrate, on several different levels, the historic nature of our community.”
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