Posted: July 9, 2010

By Bill Cresenzo

bill.cresenzo@insidebiz.com

The Pagoda Garden Teahouse is a Norfolk landmark, as are the mermaids that dot the city's landscapes.

One of the mermaids is perched on the Elizabeth River waterfront, in front of the pagoda, and now transformed after a painstaking, three-month restoration.

The statuesque sea nymph was looking a little worse for wear. For years, she had withstood the elements - the wind, the rain, the salt from the brackish river water.

Her last makeover had been in 2005. So Mermaid Mei Madeline, the namesake of Madeline Sly, president of the nonprofit board that oversees The Pagoda, underwent a $3,000 makeover at the hands of artist Marysharon Melchiorre.

What a difference. Melchiorre restored the mermaid using stained glass to cover it in a red mosaic that matches the Pagoda, a gift to the city of Norfolk from the Taiwanese government in honor of the trading relationship between the city and the Far East country.

Melchiorre cut the glass herself. Although she has a studio, she worked on the mermaid in her living room, getting chuckles and raised eyebrows from her guests.

Melchiorre, who owns an art studio called Crackin' Up in Norfolk, specializes in constructing mermaids for Brickstone Studios. Mei Madeline is her largest mermaid project by far.

"I went home and told my husband, 'Guess what I get to do,'" she said. "'I get to do a 10-foot mermaid.'"

Now that the transformation is complete, the mermaid once again surveys the river, colored a bright red that shimmers in the sun. The words "Tower overlooking the sea" are inscribed in Chinese letters along her tail, along with a Koi, in honor of the Koi pond on the property.

"It's more charming," said Az Tamouro, manager of The Pagoda. "It represents Norfolk much better." nib