The main gallery flooring showing where the old banking counters would have been. Credit: The Forrest Gallery Facebook
After 30 years of carpet, an art gallery in New Zealand ripped the stuff up and uncovered a beautiful kauri floor and … ink stains?
No one was surprised. The building that hosts The Forrester Gallery in Oamaru, New Zealand, was built in 1882 for the Bank of New South Wales. For the building's 130th birthday, staff decided it was time to ditch the carpet in the first floor galleries, on the stairs and in the lobby, and return to the original wood.
Photos taken during the Nov. 22–Dec. 12 restoration period clearly show the marks from the bank tellers' cubicles. Also discovered was the position of a large hearth fireplace and counter in the main banking chamber, now the main gallery.
Director Jane Macknight told the local newspaper, Otago Daily Times, that the building was "arguably the most important object in the gallery's collection."
The large patched area in the main gallery is where the hearth for the original 1884 fireplace was located—keeping the staff and customers warm while counting their money.
