The opening of the “Battle of Atlanta” cyclorama exhibit at Buckhead’s Atlanta History Center has been pushed back to February, the museum said.
The exhibit was initially planned to open in the fall of 2018, but unexpected work has pushed the anticipated opening date back to Feb. 22, 2019, museum spokesperson Howard Pousner said.
The museum, at 130 West Paces Ferry, has been at work cleaning and restoring the painting since August 2017. The historic cyclorama painting of the pivotal Civil War battle was moved to the Atlanta History Center from Grant Park earlier in 2017.
The experts anticipated removing fluffy clouds in the sky that were added in an earlier restoration, but after removing varnish that caused a yellow hue, they discovered the sky needs to be fully repainted, Pousner said. The technicians also had to recreate two vertical panels missing that were removed after damage and to fit in the Grant Park building, he said.
The work to create and curate exhibits that will be installed outside the cyclorama building and provide context to painting is taking longer than anticipated, another factor in pushing back the opening date, Pousner said.
The “Texas,” a legendary locomotive dating to 1856, has been installed inside a glass enclosure in the museum’s new wing built along with the cyclorama. The two exhibits were initially planned to open together, but, because of the cyclorama delays, the “Texas” will open first, on the anticipated date of Nov. 17, according to the museum.