Hastings City Hall
Hastings, MNBuilt in an Italian Villa style, the building originally opened as the Dakota County Courthouse (1869-1871) and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 1978.
Renaissance Historic Exteriors was engaged to restore the architectural sheet metal on City Hall's four corner domes, center dome, and porch. The scope encompassed complete replacement of all non-decorative metal on the four corner domes and the center dome down to the cornice, along with full replacement of the porch balustrade in new galvanized metal.
Work Included
- Duplication and installation of replacement decorative sheet metal on the main dome and four corner domes
- Restoration of the porch roof
- Restoration of the porch roof balustrade
- Cleaning and removing all existing rust and deterioration
- Tie together the replacement decorative sheet metal with existing sheet metal, matching profiles, seams, and finishes
THE CHALLENGE
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During installation, the crew encountered significant wood rot in the water tables of both the center dome and all four corner domes — conditions not visible until the existing metal was removed. Renaissance Historic Exteriors identified and addressed this substrate deterioration before setting new metal, ensuring the restored sheet metal was installed over a sound, durable base rather than concealing a compromised structure. The team also identified deteriorated porch roof decking during the work. Although decking replacement fell outside the original contract scope, flagging this condition promptly allowed the owner to plan for its repair and protected the integrity of the surrounding new metal work.
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THE RENAISSANCE SOLUTION
The domes and porch balustrade are the building's most visible architectural features, and the sheet metal scope was designed to restore their profiles and detailing to match the structure's historic character. Much of the ornate decorative sheet metal was removed and new metal was fabricated and installed to replicate existing decorative forms wherever more than half of the original material could be retained, preserving the building's authentic silhouette while ensuring long-term weathertightness.
This involved us cleaning and removing all the existing rust and deterioration prior to applying rust inhibitors and painting the materials once reinstalled. All of the ornate architectural sheet metal underwent this process after it was removed from the building.
The state historic office required us to reuse as much of the historic metal as possible. Renaissance was tasked with duplicating badly damaged or missing components which were fabricated in our copper studio.
Many of the joint details between the various metal components were updated to more closely comply with current standard sheet metal practices. This process required us to rethink how interlocking joints worked between existing and new metals. The goal was to retain the original appearance of the structure while removing as many of the exposed fasteners as reasonably possible.
THE RESULTS
All new metal was detailed to tie seamlessly into the retained historic fabric of the building, matching profiles, seams, and finishes across the domes and cornice. The coordinated painting of the water table and cornice around the entire building — apart from the area beneath the porch's flat roof — unified the restored metalwork with the rest of the façade, giving the building a consistent, cohesive appearance from every elevation.
The restoration will keep this historic property performing for the City of Hastings for years to come.
