Otesaga Resort Hotel Chandelier Restoration
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Located along 700 feet of the southern shore of scenic Lake Otsego in Cooperstown, N.Y., The Otesaga Resort and Hotel is renowned for its beauty in an area famous for its architecture and historical wealth.

The Otesaga was designed by New York architect Percy Griffin, and was opened in 1909. With its classic neo-Georgian design, this federal style building is a member of The National Trust for Historic Preservations as one of the prestigious Historic Hotels of America.

In 2007, the Otesaga Resort served as host for the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony of Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. In an untimely accident, an antique chandelier in one of the resort's function halls fell 20 feet to the ground. Extensive damage to the crystal arms, the chandelier's steel structure, nickel finished components, and electrical workings called for a complete restoration of the entire piece.

To make matter's worse, the important guests would be arriving in 12 days.

The Otesaga's management contacted Grand Light's restoration specialists, who then traveled to Cooperstown to pick up the pieces of the shattered chandelier and begin the restoration process. Miraculously, the restoration team was able to successfully and artfully complete the large scale restoration in time for the ceremony.

 

 

Although the restoration of the Otesaga's chandelier was under an incredibly tight time frame, rudimentary sketches were created to guide both the restoration team and the administration of the hotel as the restoration was underway.

The drawings created were of the crystal bobesches, pendalogues and spears, all of which needed to be replaced. The drawings detailed the dimensions, materials used, and the quantity of the pieces.

The extensive damage sustained by the chandelier in the fall, meant that the restoration job would be equally extensive. Over the course of 12 days, Grand Light’s restoration experts completed the restoration of the entire piece. The work included new wiring in accordance with UL standards, repairs to all of the structural and decorative metal components, and the recreation of hand-blown hurricane glass. In addition to the restoration of these major components, Grand Light’s experts also recreated, replaced or restored finer aspects of the piece including crystal bobesches, pendalogues and crystal spears.

The crystal chandelier arms, varying in size, were also reproduced by Grand Light. The arms were manufactured in the Czech Republic and were designed with etched and polished cuts.

In addition to recreating and silver-plating the destroyed components and hardware, the experts stripped, buffed and re-lacquered the frame and candle components. They also rewired the chandelier to meet modern specifications. On the day before the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the restoration team made their way to Cooperstown with the finished components. Once there, they assembled the frame, seated the bowls and installed the completed fixture.

With the chandelier completed in its entirety and ready to go back to The Otesaga, the restoration team crated and loaded the antique fixture and began their trip down to Cooperstown.

The hotel's show-piece was installed just in time for the ceremony, and took place the day before all of the guests arrived. Once there, the restoration team assembled the frame, inserted the crystal arms, seated the bowls and installed the completed fixture.

With the antique fixture installed a mere eight days after restoration began, the Otesaga had their chandelier. Some of the honored guests may have noticed how magnificent the crystal chandelier looked as it glistened in the hall, but none of them could have ever guessed that the antique had been on the floor in hundreds of pieces only 12 days before.