In Houston, Texas, efforts are being made by Preservation Houston to save many of the city’s historic structures. Western Specialty Contractors - Houston Branch was recently honored by the association with a Good Brick Award in the Institutional Category for its efforts to restore the facade of Houston’s oldest fire station.
Preservation Houston has presented the Good Brick Awards since 1979 to recognize outstanding contributions to the preservation, restoration, and enhancement of Houston's architectural and cultural heritage.
Award recipients are selected annually by a jury of community leaders, preservation and design professionals, and previous award winners. The 2024 recipients, including Western’s Houston Branch for restoration of Fire House Station No. 7, were honored at a dinner at River Oaks Country Club.
“We are so honored to have received a ... Good Brick award from Preservation Houston,” Western’s Houston Branch Manager Brian Dolezal said. “It’s nice to be recognized for our historic restoration skills and expertise.”
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Western was tasked with restoring the exterior of downtown Houston’s Romanesque-style Fire Station No. 7, opened in 1899. The fire station remained active until 1969 when a replacement was built. It currently houses the Houston Fire Museum.
Western’s scope of work on the project included:
- Demolition/removal of exterior stucco to expose the original brick facade
- Replacing 10,000 broken bricks with salvaged bricks from the early 1900s
- Tuckpointing all exterior brick joints at exterior masonry
- Rebuilding brick window heads and installing stainless steel rods for strength
- Installing 4,000 stainless steel helical rods to strengthen the brick parapet wall
- Repairing brick and tuckpointing brick joints at interior masonry
- Cleaning the exterior brick with low pressure water and mild detergents
The project team included: REPRACTICE, Tellepsen Builders, and BMP Group.
