Since Aug. 11, things at Hartwood Mansion have been a bit hectic. It was on that day the ceiling of the mansion's Great Hall crashed to the floor. An estimated 2 tons of plaster fell, damaging, if not destroying, all of the furniture, walls, carpets and decorations.

Skilled craftsmen and the Hartwood staff have been trying to repair the room and its contents as well as carry on normal business. And what at first looked impossible is now close to completion.

"Our major concern was really the ceiling," said Sylvia Easler, recreation superintendent for Allegheny County Parks and Recreation Department. "We didn't know if we could find a craftsman who could make the necessary repairs."

The mansion, built in 1929 in Hartwood Acres Park, is owned and operated by Allegheny County. The mansion sits in Indiana Township. Most of the park is in Hampton.

After reading an article about the collapse, Jerry Wilson, of the Western Pennsylvania Craftsmen Guild, contacted Mrs. Easler, and one of the guild's members, Daniel McClelland, won the contract to repair the ceiling. Guild members are completing other repairs as well.

A plaster contractor, Mr. McClelland specializes in historic and decorative plastering.

"I started plastering when I was about 12 with my dad, who was a plasterer. When I got older, the work was kind of mundane," he said.

But as he viewed work on older homes, he was intrigued by what he saw. "I was in awe of some of the plastering. Then when I bought a house, I told my dad I wanted to use some of the templates and other things he had and started doing decorative work in my own house."

Mr. McClelland has been doing ornamental plaster work for 23 years.

When he first saw the Great Hall and the 20-foot-by-40-foot hole in the ceiling, it was a bit overwhelming, he admitted.

"I didn't know where to start. I was trying to find photos of the ceiling," he said.

He asked John Lawrence, whose family had owned the mansion and who was visiting at the time, whether he had any photos of the ceiling.

"He told me 'Dan, we have pictures of the family. We didn't take photos of the ceiling,' " Mr. McClelland said.

He gathered pieces of the fallen plaster and took them home. Using the pieces, he began sketching.

"I sketched what I thought the ceiling would look like and brought it in to show Sylvia. I asked her if she had any photos, and she remembered there was a brochure with a photo," he said. "Sure enough, she found a photo and I was dead-on with my drawings."

Mr. McClelland created more than 700 plaster molds for the work in his shop at his home in Washington Township, Armstrong County. He and two other workers put up the new pieces of plaster temporarily to make sure they fit. "I didn't have enough space at my house to lay it all out. The room is 56 feet by 27 feet," he said.

After they are certain of the fit, the three will plaster the individual pieces into place. "We will take it down, one piece at a time, then put it right back up. That way we can keep it all in place and straight," he said.

Mr. McClelland and his crew have been working since October and hope to finish by the end of March. "I estimated six months of work, five days a week, to complete the job," Mr. McClelland said.

The ceiling alone will cost $185,000, and county officials are still totaling the cost of repair to about 40 damaged items, including a Steinway grand piano, brass chandelier and 17th-century Flemish tapestry.