To reuse the historic bricks, crews worked with “surgical” care to salvage as many as possible, says Curtis DeLaquil, JE Dunn’s senior project manager. “We had to be very delicate with how we preserved those brick walls,” which had been built of heavy timber supported by a three-brick-wide exterior. Crews removed the salvageable bricks individually, carefully gathering up about 51,000—enough to cover the rebuilt structure’s new north, east and west walls. 

Installation of windows was another challenge, as was phasing the work due to the building’s logistics. “We had some serious constraints working within the confines of those existing brick walls,” DeLaquil says. The effort was worth it, contest judges say.

“Building schools is very rewarding because everybody’s so grateful,” he says, adding that the school’s principal was “in tears” when the project completed. “It was a big deal.”