Carpet Down, Piano Tuned; Town Hall Wing Moves Closer to Sunday Re-Opening

On Sunday, residents will celebrate the re-opening of the west wing of Ramona Town Hall, just in time for the landmark's 118th birthday.

The building is one of California's oldest remaining town halls.

Augustus and Martha Barnett donated it to Ramona on Washington's Birthday in 1894. Portraits of the couple by local artist Judy Nachazel will be unveiled at Sunday's festivities.

Restoration and a seismic retrofit of the town hall began in 1993 but were held up by arson and increased costs of insurance and repairs, according to the town hall website. The building, on Main Street, was closed for public safety reasons in 2002.

Now, the west wing and men's restrooms have been completely renovated with heating and air conditioning systems, new electrical and plumbing, new drywall, carpet, faux fireplace, light fixtures, wood trim and historical cabinets from a Ramona pharmacy.

To see the general history of the restoration, click here to go to the website. Funding has included grants and private donations.

At this weekend's celebration, the charcoal portraits of the Barnetts will be unveiled over the fireplace. Nachazel worked from photographs of the couple. She told Patch that one of the challenges was that the flash photography used back then tended to wash out detail in the faces. At one point, she asked one of the Barnetts' great-great-grandsons, Ramona resident Dan Parker, if she could look him in the eyes to catch the right expression for one of the portraits. He obliged.

"When I went to see him, it was amazing how alike his eyes were," Nachazel said.

She said the finished portraits have been at her house for a while.

"I'm going to miss them," she said with a big smile.

Parker and another great-great-grandson, Phil Parker, are invited for the unveiling.

A grand piano donated to the town hall 30 years ago has been given new hammers and has been tuned by Jeff Lehman of Vista. It's now more than 100 years old and the strings are original. Pam Stubbs will play it at the festivities and her son, Andy Stubbs, will accompany her on violin.

Cupcakes will be served Sunday and visitors will be able to buy souvenir mugs and T-shirts. The celebration will be from 1 to 4 p.m. The unveiling is expected at about 2:15 p.m.

Much restoration work remains to be done on the structure. Tours of the rest of the town hall will be conducted by docents throughout the afternoon and any donations for the work will be accepted.