Last week, the Times-Free Press ran an article on the Tivoli and its deterioration. It bothered me to see this because the man who did the ornate work was a friend of my family's. His name was Z. S. Giuliano.
Not only did he do the work on the Tivoli but countless buildings in Chattanooga including the James Building and the Read House. He also did a lot of work in the South and his homeland of Italy.
My father, Frank Lombardo, worked for Mr. Giuliano at his Chattanooga Statuary in the 1930's. That was when Adolph Ochs commissioned Mr. Giuliano to do the eagles at Eagle's Nest on the side of Lookout Mountain. My father, in later years, went on to become a well known shoe repairman and leather craftsman in St. Elmo. Both men have passed and were very hard working and artistic.
Although Mr. Giuliano had no mention, to my knowledge, about his work on the Tivoli, I felt he should be honored. So in 2008, when the Tivoli had the Take A Seat promotion, I bought a memorial seat for him.
"Nothing is new under the sun" and the millions they said it would take to restore the Tivoli, is the same thing that happened in 1987 when the Tivoli was restored in two years. I'm hoping that the same will happen nearly 30 years later and the 'jewel' will shine again.
Frannie Narramore