By: Deborah Johnson Wood
The $6 million renovation of the former DA Blodgett Home for Children involved the most significant terra cotta restoration project in the history of the state, according to experts at the Michigan Historic Preservation Office.
Much of the restoration of the circa 1908 Italianate orphanage and gardens at 920 Cherry SE centered around the restoration of four 36-foot terra cotta columns and 1,260 smaller terra cotta pieces and balusters.
"It's virtually financially impossible to restore terra cotta," says Jonathan Bradford, executive director of the Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF), the group spearheading the restoration. "So we recreated everything in glass fiber reinforced concrete, which has a more manageable price, lasts longer than terra cotta, and is one-third the weight."
Only one company in the US, a manufacturer in Dallas, Texas, knew how to re-create the terra cotta pieces, and only one mason in Michigan had the knowledge and expertise to integrate the new pieces with the old. That mason was Dale Cox, who led a restoration crew of eight masons.
"It's a monumental project," Bradford says. "The little ornate pieces had to be integrated with the old pieces and the old brick, and some of them took two to three hours each."
In addition, Cox knew how to integrate 10,000 bricks from a demolished 100-year-old building with the existing brick facade to replace sections damaged by previous remodeling and time.
The ICCF moved into the building in August. But an invitation-only grand opening celebration the night of Tuesday, October 25, 2007 marked the beginning of a week of festivities, which culminate in a community open house this Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00.
Source: Jonathan Bradford, Inner City Christian Federation
Photograph by Brian Kelly
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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