Questions of cost, preservation surround historic Norton Hall murals

WORCESTER – There is an effort to preserve historic murals in Worcester, but there are several unanswered questions: Can they be preserved, how will it be done and how much will it cost? 

Ten murals, some nearly 100 years old, are housed in Norton Hall in a building that's vacant and inaccessible to the public.

The building is owned by the Worcester Business Development Corp., a private nonprofit developer that is attempting to transform land that the building sits on into a manufacturing hub called GreenTech Park.

The development corporation took ownership of the land – a total of 51 acres – in 2022, when Saint-Gobain was looking to unload some of its underused land and buildings at its North American headquarters along Interstate 190. Saint-Gobain gave the corporation the land for free.

Now the corporation must figure out what to do with the murals. It didn't respond to an interview request for this story. 

Earlier this month, Roberta Brien, Worcester Business Development Corp. executive vice president, told the Telegram & Gazette that the organization ideally wanted the murals to stay where they are. However, she said, saving the 1913 building, which doesn't meet current codes, and keeping the murals in the hall must work within the financial scope of the project.

The development corporation is sensitive to the feelings of former Norton employees who want the murals preserved, said Brien earlier this month. The artwork honors workers who gave years of service to Norton, a company founded in Worcester in 1885 that became an international success story with its signature product: the grinding wheel used in manufacturing worldwide. 

The development corporation is partnering with Saint-Gobain, Worcester Art Museum and Preservation Worcester to figure out how to preserve the murals. It appears the group is leaning toward relocating them to the Worcester Art Museum for public display.

This week, the City Council approved $500,000 toward the cost of preserving, removing and relocating the murals to the museum. The funds were recommended unanimously last month by the city’s Community Preservation Committee.

When the committee made its recommendation, Chairman Bill Eddy told his committee colleagues that he was told by Worcester Business Development Corp. President Craig Blais that Saint-Gobain would match the recommended amount.

That means the city would kick in $500,000 in preservation funds matched by $500,000 from Saint-Gobain. Eddy also said he was told by Blais that the corporation would invest $100,000 of its own money, bringing the total from those three sources to $1.1 million. Eddy mentioned that Blais told him the total cost of preserving and moving the murals to the museum would be $1.5 million. 

A Worcester Art Museum spokesperson said Director Matthias Waschek wasn’t available for an interview. In his email response to T&G questions, Waschek said the cost largely hinges on whether the murals can remain in Norton Hall. 

“If they were to come to the Worcester Art Museum, the costs to remove, relocate, conserve and display the murals would be substantial – but more work is needed to assess the feasibility and costs,” said Washeck's email, which noted that significant fundraising and grants are necessary to make the project possible.   

There are “significant complexities” to preserve the murals, especially if they’re relocated, according to Washeck, because they’re large and embedded in the walls at Norton Hall. Conservation consultants hired by the museum have determined that the murals' safe removal and relocation is feasible but complex. 

“Ultimately, if it is determined that the murals cannot remain in place, the Worcester Art Museum is committed to serving as their next steward, provided that the necessary funding can be secured or raised by Saint-Gobain/Norton and the Worcester Business Development Corporation,” said Waschek's email.

The Worcester Historical Commission voted unanimously in December to designate the building and its murals as having local historical significance. Brien told the commission the designation would help the Worcester Business Development Corp. secure community preservation funds and solicit donations from a public fundraising campaign to preserve the murals.

After some on the historical commission asked Brien if the building could be restored so the murals remain where they are, she said restoration of the building is a “50-50” possibility, but there are many unknowns to determine if the murals could remain in Norton Hall.

The next 24 months will likely determine a decision on the murals, said Brien, because that's the amount of time needed to finish fundraising and attempts to remove the murals from the walls and preserve them before the cost of maintaining the building becomes too expensive.

Preservation Worcester Executive Director Patrick T. Maloney told the T&G he prefers the murals stay where they are. However, he understands there are "major limitations" that could prevent that from happening.

“It’s going to be a heavy lift,” said Brien of the restoration costs, because the 1913 building doesn’t meet the requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Plus, it needs a new roof, heating and cooling system, wiring and plumbing.

A construction company hired by the Worcester Business Development Corp. in 2019 determined it would cost $40 million to bring the building up to current standards and codes, according to Brien.

Renovating the building into a hotel could be an option, but there's no guarantee Norton Hall and the murals would mesh in such a scenario, said Brien. The development corporation planned to conduct a marketing study to determine if there's a demand for a hotel at GreenTech Park, and Brien told the historical commission that the study could be finished sometime in the first quarter of 2026.

Besides the murals that chronicle Norton’s history, others display the names of Norton employees who worked at the company for 25 years or more. There are also plaques on the walls that include the names of employees who died in wars. Brien told the historical commission those items will not be part of a public display if the murals are preserved and relocated. 

Instead, Brien said, it’s the development corporation's intention to have archival-quality photographs taken of those items for a public display. Meanwhile, Saint-Gobain is committed to having photographs of the items put in books to be displayed in the company's new administration building, according to Brien.

Asked what will ultimately happen to the murals, Maloney said it's hard to say given that so many factors haven't been figured out.

"My great hope is, someday I will be able to show these murals to friends and family visiting Worcester," said Maloney. "That's not the situation we're in currently."