On April 21, the Masonry Advisory Council announced Berglund as the winner of the Excellence in Masonry Architectural Award for religious structures for our work on Grace Lutheran Church.
We received the honor at the council’s Chicago History Museum ceremony. For over 40 years, the Masonry Advisory Council has hosted the “Excellence in Masonry Award” Program. The council recognizes architectural design excellence and the talent that makes those design concepts a reality. It is a non-profit organization that provides support to the masonry construction industry.
Designed by the noted architectural firm of Tallmadge and Watson, Grace Lutheran Church was dedicated in 1931. The building is an Art Deco adaptation of English Gothic style. Short-term repairs could no longer support the limestone bell tower; it required a complete restoration. Berglund undertook the restoration of the entire bell tower structure and main entrance elevation of the church. The masonry-bearing structure is composed of ornate Indiana limestone with back-up brick masonry. Berglund cleaned all the stone, reset more than 750 stone units and replaced more than 200 others.
The work also included installing Dutchmen repairs on ornate limestone, hand carving limestone ornamentation, stone patching, tuck pointing, repairingthe structural concrete foundation, building a new concrete entrance and the installation of a new copper roof and interior tower access ladder.
