“That was invaluable to see how [original architect Frank P. Milburn’s] drawings were put together so we could see what we were getting into,” says Joe Schmidt of Evans and Schmidt Architects.

Schmidt and his team completed the two-year, $14 million project this past spring. They removed additions such as 1950s iron fencing and a 1976 dropped ceiling; replicated original door moldings; repaired brick; re-created a demolished staircase to match its intact twin; and returned the first floor to artist studios and classrooms.

“[Museum benefactor James] Gibbes’ idea was to create a space where young people in this area could learn how to make art,” says Executive Director Angela Mack.

The focus on discovery extended to the restoration pros, too: A great-nephew of one of the original contractors found a photograph of the building’s original cornerstone being laid, so the crew stripped away plaster to uncover it. The cornerstone, which had been hidden inside a 1970s expansion, is now visible—a symbol of all the other long-hidden details that are back on display.