restoration

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At This River, Officials Try to Turn Back the Clock 100 Years

Klamath River restoration project is a massive, $500M endeavor, involving removal of 4 dams

(Newser) - The largest dam removal project in US history is underway along the California-Oregon border—a process that won't conclude until the end of next year with the help of heavy machinery and explosives. But in some ways, removing the four dams is the easy part, per the AP . The...

Struck by Lightning, Ancient Hercules Is Reborn

Vatican experts are restoring this statue to its former glory

(Newser) - Scaffolding in a niche of the Vatican Museums' Round Hall conceals from view the work of restorers who are removing centuries of grime from the largest known bronze statue of the ancient world: the gilded Hercules Mastai Righetti. For more than 150 years, the 13-foot-tall figure of the half-human Roman...

Gustave Eiffel 'Would Have a Heart Attack' if He Saw Tower Today

Experts suggest $60M paint job is 'mostly useless' for rust-riddled structure

(Newser) - The 1,083-foot-tall Eiffel Tower is undergoing its "most expensive" and "most inefficient" paint job ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, according to Marianne , which reports the $60 million project will do nothing to treat a significant problem hiding under the Iron Lady's coats: lots...

Critics on Colosseum Overhaul: 'Italy Seen Via Las Vegas'

High-tech $18M stage will cover up structure's subterranean chambers, offering a 'gladiator's view'

(Newser) - If you're one of the millions who've converged upon the Colosseum in Rome, your past visits likely included wandering around the seating area and peering down into the underground chambers. In a couple of years, tourists there will have the chance to participate in a new activity: taking...

Restoration Turns Statue Into 'Fugly Humanoid'
This Restoration Didn't Go Well
Nov 15, 2020 2:30 PM CST

This Restoration Didn't Go Well

Before-and-after photos are a sight to behold

(Newser) - Whoever did this must be lying low about now. A sculpture of a smiling woman in Spain looks more like a cartoon character after an unidentified art restorer got to work on her, CBS News reports. A local artist in Palencia, Spain, posted before-and-after images of the statue, which adorns...

A Chance of a Lifetime for Architects After Notre Dame Fire

France seeks designs for new spire

(Newser) - The world watched, horrified, as Notre Dame’s spire toppled in the flames Monday. Two days later, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is already envisioning a new one, "adapted to the techniques and the challenges of our era," per the BBC . All that remains of the spire erected...

Rembrandt Masterpiece to Get Unusual Restoration

Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum says years-long effort will be public

(Newser) - Conservators repairing a masterpiece of the Dutch Golden Age will have the added pressure of crowds watching their every move. Beginning in July, Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum will display the restoration of Rembrandt van Rijn's 1642 masterpiece "The Night Watch" from within a specially designed glass chamber in its...

Quarter-Mile Tribute to Whales Looking for New Home

It's North America's longest painting, completed in 1848, and it's newly restored

(Newser) - A museum has restored the longest painting in North America so it can share the story of American whaling with the public. The New Bedford Whaling Museum enlisted the help of a textile conservator to fix the "Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage Round the World." Now it'...

One of Pennsylvania's Oldest Homes Hid in Plain Sight

1704 log home hidden by 5 layers of exterior

(Newser) - Based on a line in a local history book, Jude Plum suspected the two-story home he purchased out of pre-foreclosure in 2013 was old. He just didn't know it was one of the oldest surviving homes in Pennsylvania. That fact, and more of the home's history, surfaced only...

Saga of Stradivarius Stolen in 1980 Ends on High Note

Roman Totenberg's family to hear stolen violin for first time in 37 years

(Newser) - After a meticulous restoration that took more than a year, a Stradivarius violin that was stolen from violinist Roman Totenberg and missing for decades is about to return to the stage. Violinist Mira Wang, who studied under Totenberg, will play the instrument at a private concert in New York on...

Under a Monticello Restroom, a Hidden Piece of History

Restoration to show bedroom of slave Sally Hemings

(Newser) - A $35 million restoration of Monticello is underway, but it's what's been buried under a restroom there for nearly 80 years that's been attracting the most attention of late: the bedroom of Sally Hemings, one of President Thomas Jefferson's slaves and the mother of six children...

Students on Hunt for Murdered African Americans

The Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project is archiving data on thousands of lynchings

(Newser) - From the end of Reconstruction following the Civil War through the Civil Rights movement into the 1960s, thousands of African Americans were killed by mobs, sometimes kidnapped from jails, sometimes hung from trees, sometimes mutilated, sometimes all of the above. Now a project called the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice...

Billionaire: I Paid to Restore Spanish Steps, Now Stay Off

Benefactor Paolo Bulgari says people ruin the landmark with their slovenly habits

(Newser) - Audrey Hepburn ate gelato on the Spanish Steps in Roman Holiday, which makes her one of the "barbarians"—the residents and tourists who've ruined the famous landmark over the years, per the billionaire benefactor who's paying for its makeover, NBC News reports. The steps, built nearly...

Ancient, Secret Library Gets a Facelift

University of al-Qarawiyyin library undergoing repairs

(Newser) - The settling dust from renovations and the banging of tools aren't ideal sights and sounds for a library—but this is no ordinary library. Founded 12 centuries ago in Fez, Morocco's University of al-Qarawiyyin library is one of the world's oldest, home to unique Islamic manuscripts treasured...

Castle Restoration Called a 'Heritage Massacre'

Critics outraged at the work in Spain

(Newser) - Remember the botched "restoration" of Spanish fresco Ecce Homo back in 2012? Well, this might top it. Having stood for more than 1,000 years, Matrera Castle in Cadiz was looking a bit worse for wear when officials decided to restore the National Monument three years ago. Now, people...

Paul Allen Fixing Coral Reef His Yacht Likely Wrecked

Microsoft co-founder not accepting blame yet, but restoration starts in Caymans

(Newser) - Paul Allen isn't accepting all of the blame yet for annihilating a huge section of coral reef in the Cayman Islands, but his company is now trying to help put the reef back together, Page Six reports. Tatoosh, the Microsoft co-founder's 300-foot mega-yacht, is said to have dragged...

After 10 Brides, 11th to Wear 120-Year-Old Dress
After 10 Brides, 11th to
Wear 120-Year-Old Dress
in case you missed it
Sep 27, 2015 5:30 PM CDT

After 10 Brides, 11th to Wear 120-Year-Old Dress

A bridal designer spent 200 hours restoring the brown, tattered dress

(Newser) - When Abigail Kingston became engaged to Jason Curtis, she did not have to wonder about what she'd wear on her wedding day. The dress she had in mind has been passed down through five generations in her family, starting with her great-great grandmother Mary Lowry Warren, who wore it...

Smithsonian Launches $500K Kickstarter for Famous Suit

They'll leave lunar dust on Neil Armstrong's moonwalk getup, though

(Newser) - "Reboot the Suit" is the slogan for the Smithsonian Institution's new campaign to restore Neil Armstrong's famous moonwalk spacesuit—and the museum group has launched its first-ever Kickstarter campaign to reach its $500,000 goal, Smithsonian reports. Funds raised will go toward conserving the spacesuit so it...

At Long-Dead Artist's Home, a 'Once-in-a-Century' Find

Art experts find unknown Thomas Cole murals, painted around 1836

(Newser) - Art experts working at the summer home and gallery of 19th-century American artist Thomas Cole simply wanted to figure out the original color of the walls. Instead, paint analyst Matthew Mosca uncovered an incredible find: previously unknown friezes on the original plaster of the Catskill, NY, farmhouse, hidden behind layers...

Surprise Find: Seating Plan for Rome's Colosseum

Restorers uncover red paint that survived for centuries

(Newser) - Spectators who once flocked to Rome's Colosseum could find their seats with the help of red numbers painted over entrance archways. What's amazing is that hints of that paint still remain, Discovery reports. A team restoring the Colosseum has spotted remnants of it in Latin numerals carved high...

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