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Many of the entrance frames, accents and all the stained-glass window frames & traceries are original carved Bedford Limestone. Old archive photos revealed that these were once exposed stone, but now covered with 3-5 layers of primer and paint. With a goal of finishes that matched the original construction, we stripped, repaired, honed, and detailed all stone back to its original state. To do this, we had to build tents and warm the surface temperature of the stone (for the first 3 months of work) to a minimum of 50 degrees for our initial chemical strip to be effective. We also encountered areas where the stone was so deeply stained with tar-based sealer, it became necessary for us to faux finish. We discovered some areas where stone had been replaced with cast pieces that we also faux finished to match. Our own Brad Bruce did such an amazing job in matching finishes, that it was difficult for anyone to know the difference unless they knew where to look. In addition to our plaster work and stone restoration, we also restored all Holy Water stoups, cast plaster ceiling ribs that resembled wood and shields with paint & gold leaf gilding. Church staff and other subcontractors took advantage of the opportunity to reroute and replace wiring inside of walls as we made repairs. Our thanks go out to all that were involved who provided so much support, patience, and quick decisions to make this project an incredible success!   Our thanks to Copaken Brooks for trusting us to remove the 1960 Arthur Kraft Mosaic Mural from the West Face of the Board of Education Building prior to demolition. Working closely with the Copaken Team and Spirtas Worldwide Demolition, we designed a removal solution that included the use of steel reinforcement, liquid foam and precise saw cuts of the mural into nine sections for temporary storage until a new home is found and we can begin restoration. Many thanks also to our friends at Precision Concrete Cutting & Sawing for making the cuts and Affordable Mudjacking for spraying liquid polyurethane foam for structural reinforcement.  The 18McGee Building sits on the southwest corner of McGee & East 18th Street in Kansas City, MO in the historic Crossroads Automobile Row Area. It was designed in 1950 by Edward Tanner and purchased for renovation in 2019 by 3D Development.
Once all fabrication and installation was complete, we made repairs as necessary and polished the entire stair set to a 400-grit finish. We also utilized marble reclaimed from other areas of the building to finish out the landings and main floor entrance area. The entire project took us approximately 3 months to complete and turned out beautiful! |
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March 2022
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