Government Center’s Steaming Tea Kettle makes its triumphant return
Taken down for repairs in May, the landmark now shines.
The iconic Steaming Tea Kettle resumed its rightful perch in Government Center on Thursday, having received a facelift and some TLC.
The Steaming Kettle is back. pic.twitter.com/oBlHhvWNPG
— Colin Moore (@cmcabo97) October 6, 2016
The 143-year-old landmark was taken down for repairs on May 9, possibly after being crashed into by a truck. Though it was initially reported that the repairs would likely take five to six weeks, the restoration proved to be difficult, instead taking nearly five months to complete.
“When it came in, everyone’s standing around and scratching their heads, saying, ‘OK, what do we do now?’” Dave Randa, co-owner of the Northborough company ViewPoint Sign and Awning, which removed the kettle, told The Boston Globe.
Duane Walker of ViewPoint Sign and Awning demonstrates how the back door reattaches to the historic Steaming Kettle.
Specialists worked on the 300-pound kettle’s extensive damage and deterioration, Randa told the Globe. The team replaced the rotting wooden lid, patched up the hole in the side, and covered the copper exterior with a thin film of gold leaf. All in all, repairs accrued a price tag of $15,000, Randa said.
The gilded icon was manufactured for the old Oriental Tea Company in 1873 lauded then for its innovative steam emission. It has shifted locations a number of times over the years, originally serving the Steaming Kettle coffeeshop chain and now sitting atop Starbucks’s “Steaming Kettle” location.
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