Façade of Historic Armory Restored at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Western Specialty Contractors has restored the brick and stone façade of the historic armory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Western contracted with project general contractor Grunloh Construction to tuckpoint the armory’s east elevation, as well as portions of its north and south elevations. The scope of work also included the demolition and rebuilding of an existing parapet wall using block masonry, salvaged stone and fabricated stone that closely matched existing stone. The severity of deterioration on the upper areas of some masonry walls required a change in scope to completely rebuild additional parapet locations. Due to irregular dimensions of the parapet wall, additional demolition and rebuild work had to be completed in order to maintain the structural integrity of the masonry walls.

Western’s craftsmen also replaced damaged brick on the façade discovered during tuckpointing with salvaged brick from the parapet demolition and installed custom-blend brick in other locations where salvaged brick could not be used.

Approximately six tuckpointing mockup locations were completed in order to match the existing facade as closely as possible and maintain the historic nature of the building. In order to match the existing mortar, additional sand was added per the petrographic testing results and the mortar was brushed with special care while still damp to expose additional aggregate.

The restoration team also included White & Borgognoni Architects and Rubinos & Mesia Engineers.