Over the past two decades, Orange has been slowly but surely restoring its Town Hall to its original splendor. Work has been done to restore the floors, paint, heating, plumbing and lights in the Ruth B. Smith Auditorium, and now it’s time to bring back the original 19th century backdrop, the “Minuteman curtain.”

The Orange Town Hall Restoration Committee is trying to raise the $7,500 needed to enlist the help of Curtains Without Borders, a conservation company that specializes in restoring historic stage curtains made between 1890 and 1940.

“The restoration of the curtain will be a stunning visual reminder of the original splendor of the hall, and will provide a central focus on the stage,” Orange Historical Society Director Maureen Riendeau has said.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, curtains depicting natural scenery or historic places were trendy in the United States, and the painted scenic curtains were hung in town halls and theaters across New England, according to Curtains Without Borders.

So, the Minute Tapioca Company, which operated a large factory in downtown Orange, commissioned the Twin City Scenic Company in Minneapolis, Minn., to paint a curtain, which depicts the colonial Minuteman statue in Concord. The now famous historic statue was sculpted by a young Daniel Chester French for the 1875 100th anniversary of the opening Revolutionary War battle in Concord. Civil War cannons were melted down to create this cast bronze statue. French later became nationally famous, creating many other pieces of art, including the seated Lincoln statue in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Minute Tapioca donated the curtain depicting French’s famous work to the town. But, after years as the stage backdrop in the auditorium, the curtain was put into storage.

The Restoration Committee hopes to restore the curtain as a backdrop to the stage, displaying this historic piece of community art in the Ruth B. Smith Auditorium, which is used for social and municipal government events.

If you would like to donate to the curtain restoration, mail a check made out to the Orange Town Hall Restoration Committee, care of the treasurer, to Orange Town Hall, 6 Prospect St., Orange, MA 01364. Write “curtain” on the memo line.

There are many historic reminders of the town’s past in our midsts, and this particular historic art work, which speaks of the town’s industrial heritage as well as the state’s colonial revolutionary past, deserves to be brought back into the limelight.

Any money raised above the $7,500 goal will go toward other restoration projects in the auditorium. New stage lighting will be the first priority, Riendeau said, as it will make the auditorium suitable for hosting concerts, plays and other theatrical performances.

So we would encourage everyone to contribute what you can. If everyone in town donated a dollar, the Restoration Committee would have the money it needs, and the town hall would have another historically significant element restored to its municipal gathering space.