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Famous Bal Harbour hotel murals coming to Tallahassee

One of the Bal Harbour mosaics
Anton Regregier
One of the Bal Harbour mosaics

By Tom Flanigan

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-982681.mp3

Tallahassee, FL – Six giant mosaics that once graced the lobby of a famous South Florida Hotel are now in Tallahassee. Tom Flanigan reports the historic works were given to the city for public display.

The six giant crates, weighing about a ton-and-a-half apiece, now sit in the AMWAT warehouse in South Tallahassee. Inside are mosaic masterpieces by renowned artist Anton Regregier. They depict Florida's first European explorers. Architect Deborah Desilets helped arrange the acquisition.

"Tallahassee, being one of the original places where all the explorers did come through, is the most appropriate home for it."

For the next six months or so, restorers will bring the mosaics back to their original luster and make them more portable. City Commissioner Gil Ziffer has also been very involved in the project.

"They're one of a kind. No one else has anything like these and for us to have six of them is pretty special."

For more than half a century the mosaics were in the lobby of the famed Americana Hotel in Bal Harbour. They were recovered during the hotel's demolition four years ago.