JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph's most recognizable structure is receiving a fresh coat of paint.
The project to paint the Taj Mahal, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, began in January and is scheduled for completion in mid-June, weather permitting, James Cipollone, 902nd Civil Engineer Squadron project manager, said.
"They are painting the entire exterior of the building - the walls and window frames - all the way up to the dome," he said.
Crew members have already painted the two-story Spanish Colonial Revival-style administration building at the base of the 170-foot structure and are now working on the tower itself with the use of pipe staging scaffolding, Cipollone said.
"They'll also be sealing cracks in the stucco on the northeast side of the tower," he said, which will prevent rainwater from seeping into the interior.
Because the Taj Mahal is a historic structure, it is retaining its traditional color, which Cipollone described as a "shade off white." The window frames remain a brown color.
The project does not include the blue and gold mosaic-tiled dome roof, he said.
The structure was last painted in 2004, Cipollone said.
The Taj Mahal has been the site of other recent renewal projects, including a just-completed refurbishing of its first-floor courtroom - the oldest courtroom in the Air Force - and a renovation of the theater, now called Fleenor Auditorium, two years ago.
The design of the Taj Mahal, which officially opened in 1931, was the brainchild of Army 1st Lt. Harold L. Clark, who also sketched the layout and architectural design of the fledgling flying training center soon to become Randolph Field. His sketch of the Taj featured a two-story administration building and domed tower to encase a 500,000-gallon water tank that is still in service.