Long hidden at CVG, murals closer to coming home

A Cincinnati treasure trove is one step closer to coming home.

Nine murals by famed art deco artist Winold Reiss, now housed in shuttered terminals at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, will be moved to the Duke Energy Convention Center Downtown in advance of the building's demolition.

The Kenton County Airport Board on Monday awarded O'Rourke Wrecking Company the contract for the demolition of Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, which includes moving the murals, said Melissa Wideman, spokesperson for the airport.

The total bid project is not to exceed $9,084,977, and The Kenton County Airport Board will pay to protect, pack, crate and transport the murals to the center, she said.

The city of Cincinnati then will assume responsibility for the murals and pay for their installation.

"We are working with O'Rourke to determine a specific timeline for the mural move," Wideman said.

When the move occurs, it will represent the culmination of years of preservation and fundraising efforts to save the priceless works that illustrate the story of Cincinnati's leading industries.

And it also won't be the first time these murals have been saved – and displaced by demolition.

According to past Enquirer reports, Reiss, who also created the mosaics in what is now the Cincinnati Museum Center rotunda, originally produced the pieces for the Union Terminal opening in 1933.

The light-reflective tiles of some 8,000 colors add up to a complex celebration of the spirit of the city's significant labor force.

Using nickel-sized glass pieces and tinted mortar, Reiss depicts soap-makers at the Procter & Gamble factory. Look close and find butchers and steel workers and airplane manufacturers.

And each mural is quite the statement at 20 feet tall, 20 feet wide and 8 inches thick. Weighing 8 tons. Apiece.

Riess originally created 23 of the pieces for the Union Terminal, and some are publicly displayed throughout Cincinnati Museum Center and in the main terminal of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

A set was displayed in the train station concourse up until 1973, the year before the building was taken down.

Fourteen moved to the airport, which has been their sanctuary for more than 40 years.