Product Report:Restoring Historic Metal Facades.
The above is link to a new article by Gordon Bock for the Traditional Building Magazine. It profiles two Illinois projects, one being the facade transplant I was fortunate to be involved with a few years ago. The meticulous restoration of Louis Sullivan’s Carson Pirie Scott Building is also covered. It’s a great article and I’d only like to reinforce the importance of the advocacy effort that led to the “happy coincidence.” Without IHPA’s ‘got mesker?’ initiative we would never have learned about the Stewardson facade. The coincidence, rather, is in the compatible timeframe and geographic proximity of the two buildings. This amazing project was not only a lot of fun but it allowed us to learn so much about Mesker facades and prove that the disassembly and reassembly is in fact possible if the right owner (kudos to Mr. Otto) and the right team are involved.
Additional photos of the dismantling of Stewardson Opera Hall can be viewed here.
Mesker Brothers 