09/04/2026
A look at where the Fine Arts Garden started, where it is today, and what’s ahead.🌳🏛️🌸
WR Restoration is proud to be working alongside the The Cleveland Museum of Art and we are STIMSON on the Fine Arts Garden rehabilitation, an effort that has been more than three years in planning and design.
The work now underway represents the first portion of a much larger, multiyear Landscape Master Plan for the museum grounds. Our initial work will focus on the Mall and Zodiac Garden, carefully balancing new infrastructure, accessibility and landscape improvements with the preservation of the historic materials, artwork and character that make this place so special.
At the center of this phase is Chester Beach’s 1928 Fountain of the Waters. Its restoration brings together a team of specialists in conservation, structural restoration, historic marble, sculpture handling and construction. WR Restoration’s work includes carefully removing and resetting historic marble and sculptural elements, repairing and replicating marble components, and helping recreate the fountain’s distinctive hand-set pebble mosaic, with some of this work being completed offsite.
The museum will remain open throughout construction, and Wade Lagoon remains part of the visitor experience. This work is only the beginning of a broader plan that will unfold over several phases in the years ahead.
We’re grateful to the Cleveland Museum of Art, its incredible donors, STIMSON, the conservation team and our trade partners for the opportunity to help steward such an important Cleveland landmark into its next century. 👏
