Preston - A significant 1894 John D. Crocker painting donated to the town decades ago will complete a long journey that took it from storage in the old town garage, a converted potato barn, to a Town Hall conference room and soon to a much more stately home in the Slater Memorial Museum at Norwich Free Academy.

A cooperative agreement is in the works between the town and Slater to restore Crocker's 1894 painting of Forge Brook Pond and display it on long-term loan to the museum.

At the request of town officials, museum director Vivian Zoe brought professional artwork and frame conservation experts to Town Hall last week to examine the painting and provide restoration cost estimates, which ranged from $6,100 to $6,867. The Board of Finance late Tuesday approved spending up to $7,000 for the project.

The board also asked First Selectman Robert Congdon to work out a 10-year, long-term loan agreement with Slater.

Zoe said she plans to add the Forge Brook Pond painting to an exhibit of about 40 Crocker works depicting 19th-century scenes and people of Norwich, Lisbon and now Preston.

"We would be happy to receive it under long-term loan," Zoe said Tuesday afternoon before the finance board vote. "The first period would be 10 years, and it could be extended."

Zoe also offered to host a special opening reception for the newly expanded Crocker exhibit.

"That would be great," Congdon said Wednesday after confirming the proposed arrangement with Zoe.

Congdon also contacted the frame and painting restoration experts Wednesday. He said it may be September or October before the restoration is complete.

Congdon said the long-term loan is the best option to preserve the painting and place it on public display. Slater would not accept the painting on loan in its current damaged and time-worn condition.

Slater would have paid for the restoration if the town donated the painting outright to the museum.

"But it was a gift to the town, so that would not be appropriate," Congdon said.

The long-term loan would allow Preston to retrieve the painting in the future if the town creates an appropriate and safe place to display it, Congdon said.

"I think it's a great outcome and it preserves our ability if 10, 20 or 30 years from now, we have an appropriate venue for it to hang in," he said.

The large painting in a wide, gilded frame depicts lush green trees, brush and grass along a pond, with a huge oak tree dominating the left side of the canvas. Look closer and you see a solitary figure walking along a winding path. His dog runs ahead, sniffing at the bushes.

"Forge Brook Pond - Poquetanuck," the small brass plaque attached to the frame reads. "By John D. Crocker in 1894. Given by his granddaughter Mira R. Gager."

The painting was discovered years ago in the Public Works garage - on an old potato farm in Preston Plains - by resident Barbara Brown and was hung in the Town Hall conference room for lack of a more suitable location.

Resident Irene Zuckerbraun, a close friend of Brown's, suggested several years ago that the painting should be repaired and loaned to Slater Museum. Zuckerbraun was thrilled to learn Wednesday that her idea will come to fruition.

"It ended up in the Preston garage, and it was Barbara Brown who saw it and knew it was something special," Zuckerbraun said. "And that's what started the process."

Zuckerbraun knew that hanging the painting in Town Hall wasn't ideal, but said the town took care of the painting as best it could, keeping it out of the sun and placing a bar across the front to prevent people from banging into it.

"I would definitely like to go to the reception," she said. "I am really happy that this painting will be restored and will have the light and humidity control it needs. I will definitely come (to the reception) and look forward to it. I'm just sorry Barbara couldn't be here to appreciate it."

Over the years, the painting has sustained water damage, scrapes, bulges and likely was bathed in cigarette smoke before smoking was banned in public buildings.

Joe Matteis, an expert in conservation of paintings and murals of Clinton, described in technical detail in a two-page report the damage he observed to the canvas and paint. If the thorough cleaning, removal of old varnish and re-varnishing with a modern substance does not affect the lining fabric and its tension, the restoration was estimated to cost $2,934. If additional fabric is needed to stabilize the canvas, the total would be $3,667.

In addition, frame experts from Holbrook & Hawes LLC Fine Art Services of Bethany examined the dirt and dust encrusted wooden frame. The group's report outlined damage such as loose molding, "old, disfiguring repairs," missing pieces and damaged pieces.

The proposed $3,200 frame restoration would include cleaning, stabilizing all loose pieces, replacing old hardware, removing old repairs and casting new molding to replace the missing pieces. In-fill pieces would be carved and toned to match the frame surface.

Along with the funding approval, the Board of Finance asked that Slater Museum provide the town with an appraisal of the painting's value, board Chairman Jerry Grabarek said.

"It's a good investment," Grabarek said. "It's certainly worth more than the $7,000 we're spending on it."

c.bessette@theday.com