Waukesha - Waukesha City Hall's corridors are sporting new colors of gold and terra cotta thanks to a weekend of painting by 28 volunteers.
"It's all done," said Mayor Jeff Scrima, who appealed to volunteers to do the job over two weekends, with paint provided by taxpayers. Because so many volunteers turned out and worked Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, they won't have to return next weekend as originally planned, Scrima said
He said city staff have been impressed that it was done so quickly, and citizens have already commented favorably.
Scrima, who attracted some unflattering attention after his office suite got a $4,000 paint job shortly after he took office in April, said Monday he wishes now he'd used volunteers for his office, too.
Scrima solicited volunteers for the bigger job after city hall's drab white halls were bared with the removal of more than 100 historic art works. Scrima expected that city hall's maintenance budget would cover the entire job, but the estimated $23,000 cost proved too expensive for Public Works Director Fred Abadi who did not want to deplete the budget early in the year.
Now that the walls are painted, Scrima said, the Public Art Committee will decide which of the historic art work is re-hung and where. All of it will stay in city hall, as required when the collection was established. He said the committee will also decide where local artists' work can be hung as part of a revolving display.