DETROIT -- It's hard to say exactly the last time work was done to restore the ornate paintings on the ceiling of the Fisher Building, or whether it was done by professionals.

That's why in November of last year, when the building's new owners rededicated their commitment to the 1928-built building, the Platform development group announced a ceiling restoration project as part of a larger $100 million effort to restore the skyscraper in Detroit's New Center neighborhood.

"As stewards of this building, we carry the responsibility to return the build to its former glory as the centerpiece for the rebirth of New Center and the rest of the city," said Peter Cummings, co-principal of The Platform in a press release.

Phase one of the project will see a nearly $500,000 investment into the ceiling restoration project. The initial repairs are on track to completed in the next 3 weeks.

Years of water damage, crumbling plaster and haze from when smoke was allowed indoors has dulled the one-of-a-kind artwork.

"Really, we're addressing the most damaged areas," said Brad Stewart, one of the EverGreene Architectural Arts artisans tasked with restoring the ceiling frescos by hand.

On Tuesday, Stewart focused on preparing a section in the third-floor corridor to add imitation gold leaf to its design, before moving to another area where he matched paint colors to replicate pomegranates in an archway.

"It's really exciting. This is the type of building is the pinnacle of what we do," said Terry Vanderwell, director of restoration for EverGreene Architectural Arts, of the Fisher. "We love to work on historic buildings all over the country and this particular building is a real gem. I like that the Detroit calls it its largest art object, it's really fitting."

The painters use the same materials and techniques that they would have used when it was painted nearly a century ago, according to Vanderwell.

The restoration is being done to high historical ethical standards, starting with documenting the areas that need work, leaving as much as the original paint as possible and infilling the original design with paints that, if it they age differently, can be wiped away and redone by the next era of restorers, the group said.

The Fisher Building, designed by famed Detroit architect Albert Kahn, originally hired Geza R. Maroti, an artist from Budapest, Hungry, to fill the Fisher with the symbolic frescos we see today.

The frescos illustrate wealth and power through commerce and transportation, as well as culture and civilization through music and drama.

Built in 1928 by the Fisher brothers, engineering pioneers who made automotive chassis, cost $9 million, or $116.5 million today, to construct.

Underneath Grand Boulevard and Lothrop Street pedestrian tunnels connect it to the Albert Kahn and Cadillac Place buildings.

It is also the largest marble-clad commercial building in the world, with 40 different types of marble used inside and on the exterior of the 441-foot-tall building.

The Fisher Building and the nearby Albert Kahn Building were purchased in 2015 for $12.2 million by Detroit-based developer The Platform.

A new mixed-use building called Third & Grand, is also under construction by The Platform a block west, with 230 apartments and 20,000 square feet retail planned.