What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Building

What weighs as much as 1,500 midsize cars? The amount of rubble that Berglund removed from this Milwaukee building during restoration.

Berglund restored 100 percent of the façade of the building, which dates back to 1886 and formerly housed insurance company Northwestern Mutual. During the process, we hauled away 3,000 tons of material from the site, replacing it with carefully replicated stone to bring the building back to its original grandeur.

What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Remember, there’s just one more day to answer the latest Berglund 101 question and win a $15 Starbucks card!

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

Platt Luggage Building

What happens when a building no longer works in its original location? In the Platt Luggage Building’s case, you pick it up and move it down the street.

The ornate Beaux-Arts-style building features sandstone medallions, Latin inscriptions, Doric columns and arched windows, and is a designated Chicago landmark. Designed by famed architect Howard Doren Shaw and built in 1907, the Platt sat at 23^rd Street and Prairie Avenue for nearly a century. Trouble began brewing, however, when the McCormick Place convention center proposed an expansion that ran smack into the Platt. After discussions with local preservation officials, McCormick considered incorporating the building into its own expanded design. When that didn’t work, the two sides agreed to relocate the building’s facade to 22^nd Street and King Drive, fitting it to the front of the Trigen-Peoples District Energy Co. building.

Berglund undertook the labor-intensive task of dismantling the intricate façade and reassembling it at its new location. We documented each brick and limestone with thousands of digital pictures and elevation drawings, and paid special attention to details such as radial brick columns, the limestone cornice and water table, and brick arches. The relocated façade now serves as the western gateway to McCormick Place and also sits next to another Shaw-designed building, the R.R. Donnelley printing plant. Safely situated at its new home, the Platt is preserved for future generations to enjoy.

What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100^th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

American School of Correspondence Building

Whether it’s old soda cans or an old building, the University of Chicago is committed to recycling. So when the American School of Correspondence relocated from the university’s Hyde Park campus to a new site in Lansing, Ill., university officials gave the old building new life as an administration center.

The former building for the correspondence high school, which opened in 1897 and counts Jessica Alba and Andre Agassi among its graduates, was designated as a Chicago landmark in 1995. When Berglund began the restoration, the historic building needed major interior and exterior work. Berglund replaced the building’s roof; repaired the heating, plumbing and electrical systems; updated the foyer; reconfigured the office layout; and made the building accessible for the disabled. Berglund also took care to minimize disruptions to administrative employees who worked out of temporary office space in the building during construction.

Since the university was anxious to complete the restoration, Berglund fast-tracked the project and self-performed many trade jobs to speed the process along. The restoration wrapped up in 2006, giving the university a recycled space that maintained the campus’ architectural integrity, yet felt brand-new. The project also earned Berglund the 2008 Marian and Leon Despres Architectural Preservation Award, presented by the Hyde Park Historical Society.

What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100^th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

University of Chicago International House

The older a building gets, the more likely it is that its town’s ordinances will eventually leave it in the dust. That’s what happened to International House, the University of Chicago’s home-away-from-home for students and faculty from around the world. The residence hall was built in 1932, and by 2003, the entire limestone exterior needed a makeover to meet Chicago’s new façade regulations.

The university turned to Berglund to bring International House up to code while maintaining its historical integrity. Since the building would be occupied throughout the restoration process, Berglund met with the hall’s residents ahead of time to discuss proper safety precautions and posted regular updates in the hall throughout construction. During restoration, the company removed 4,500 limestones from the façade – some of which weighed close to 1,000 pounds – and rehabbed each one, including grinding and tuckpointing. Berglund also dismantled and restored the building’s ornately decorated central tower, as well as three buttresses.

The result? A fully restored exterior that kept the city happy.

What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

Wacker Drive/Chicago Riverwalk rehabilitation

There’s nothing like dining al fresco at one of the restaurants along the Chicago Riverwalk on a warm evening with the water just a few feet away. The riverwalk has blossomed in recent years — and Berglund completed the restoration project that jump-started its development.

Chicago officials selected Berglund to perform a massive overhaul of the stone pedestrian walkway for a portion of the Chicago River that runs alongside Wacker Drive. The rehabilitation is the largest stone restoration and installation project ever undertaken in Chicago, and the city set high standards for the project. The ultimate goal was to create a restored walkway that would draw people to the area and also remain true to historic Chicago architect Daniel Burnham’s original vision for Wacker Drive.

Berglund spent two years on the rehabilitation, starting work in 2001 and completing the project in 2003. The company removed 5,000 stones from the limestone and granite walkway and created a database to identify each piece during the rehabilitation process. Berglund salvaged as much of the original stone as possible, returning the restored pieces to their original locations. Berglund rebuilt the remaining portions with new stones that reflected the walkway’s history, yet left it equipped to handle the popular riverwalk’s foot traffic for years to come.

What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100^th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

University of Chicago Rockefeller Memorial Chapel

How do you refurbish the second-largest instrument in the world? Very carefully.

Berglund spent three years restoring Rockefeller Memorial Chapel’s bell tower to its former glory. Built in 1928, the chapel is the tallest building on the University of Chicago’s campus and always will be – John D. Rockefeller, who paid for its construction, required that no future campus construction be taller than the building. The chapel’s bell tower houses an enormous carillon, second in size only to the carillon at Riverside Church in New York City.

Since their installation in 1932, the bells inside the tower’s carillon had become dented and misshapen, and the entire tower needed cleaning and repairs. The university entrusted the delicate task to Berglund, its longtime construction partner. Berglund oversaw the removal of 56 bells, ranging from 10 to 2,700 pounds, as well as nine clappers and the carillon’s keyboard. Dutch company Royal Eijsbouts took most of the bells to Amsterdam for cleaning, while the largest 12 bells stayed behind in Berglund’s yard.

Berglund’s other project tasks included restoring the stone framework and stained glass in the organ loft, and grinding and tuckpointing the entire tower. The bells were reinstalled in 2009, once again filling the chapel with the carillon’s unmistakable sound.

What does it take to reach 100? As part of our 100^th anniversary celebration, we’re posting a piece of Berglund’s history on our blog each day for 100 days. Check in each day to learn new tidbits about our company, win prizes based on your Berglund knowledge, and, most of all, to help us celebrate.

Spotlight on Berglund’s Work: Restoration

Everett M. Dirksen U.S. Courthouse and John C. Kluczynski Federal Building

When buildings are this important, you have to protect them. That’s why Chicago’s Everett M. Dirksen U.S. Courthouse and John C. Kluczynski Federal Building, which were both designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and are eligible for registry in the National Register of Historic Places, have curtain walls around them to keep out the elements. Those curtain walls needed significant repairs a few years ago, and the federal government tapped Berglund for the job.

The $18 million, 18-month project, which Berglund completed in 2006, required complex coordination. Because the buildings house offices for federal lawmakers and other high-profile tenants, all of Berglund’s workers had to get rigorous security clearance from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. In addition, the original black paint on the buildings — dubbed “Miesian Black” – was no longer available for purchase, so Berglund worked with Sherwin Williams to create a custom color that approximated the old paint as closely as possible.

Restoration work included replacing worn-out seals on the curtain walls, painting both buildings and installing a weep system to drain water away from the structures, ensuring that these landmarks stay dry and intact for years to come.