Washington Irving Intermediate School

Washington Irving Intermediate School, located in the village of Tarrytown, N.Y., was founded in 1925. The building was designed by James O. Betelle of Gilbert & Betelle architects of New Jersey in a Georgian style. The brick building with its arched doorways and white borders has a welcoming, residential feel, perfect for the 4th and 5th graders who attend classes there.

The school is named after the author Washington Irving, who was born in Tarrytown in 1783. He is renowned for his works Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which takes its name from the neighboring town of Sleepy Hollow.

The school recently underwent a major renovation which included the building of larger classrooms, expansion of the library, building a new art room, renovating music rooms, building a new nurse’s station and renovating some of the existing offices.

Grand Light was given the task to restore and refinish ten chandeliers from the school’s auditorium, as well as creating custom exit sign faceplates with a matching finish.

Each of the ten chandeliers required that extensive work be done in order to do a complete restoration. In addition to the thick coating of dust that had accrued over the decades, several of the fixtures had come into our facilities with broken glass panels. One of the finials had been snapped off, and there was a missing cast bobeche that needed to be replicated.

Each fixture consisted of 120 components that had to be individually dissembled and then inspected and repaired as needed. From that point onward, the pieces were individually stripped from the original copper plating, buffed and then refinished with an antique brass. Three of the broken glass panels were repaired using a UV curing adhesive, and a forth was slumped from an antique glass window.

We had completed one of the nine fixtures as a prototype for client review. The new finish was approved and we proceeded to complete the remaining eight fixtures.

Once the ten fixtures were completed, we followed our standard of performing hi-pot testing to assure that the wiring was in accordance with UL standards.

In addition to the chandeliers, Grand Light fabricated eleven custom exit sign faceplates. Concept sketches were drawn to guide our metalworkers in the fabrication of the faceplates. The finish was to match the new one being applied to the ten chandeliers being restored for the auditorium.

The plates were fabricated out of steel and measured 15 1/2 inches wide by 7 1/4 inches high. The steel was brass plated, then antiqued. For the lettering, a Calisto MT font was utilized against a red translucent panel.

Custom exit signs can be made using a variety of finishes and dimensions, and with nearly any font that is specified.

Now that the fixtures were complete, it was time for them to return home. We proceeded to build individual crates for each fixture to assure a safe arrival back to the Washington Irving School. The fixtures arrived safely and were installed, and the school was delighted with how they came out.