Located on Main Street in Downtown Akron, Ohio since, 1929, the city’s tallest building, FirstMerit Tower, is an impressive brick and terra cotta landmark, rich in Art Deco styling. VIP recently completed the exterior restoration of this historically significant structure, which will assist the building owner in its efforts to obtain a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

The work scope included 100% tuckpointing of the brick and terra cotta joints on the majority of the exterior elevations, window lintel replacement, copper roof replacement, and the complete reconstruction of the 13th and 19th floor parapets. VIP’s skilled craftsmen performed patching and glaze repairs to almost every decorative terra cotta detail of the building, which often required the recreation of ornate elements and the careful matching of the original polychromatic glaze.

The challenges of both accessing all of the work areas and running such a large project on a downtown main street corner required careful project planning and management. In the process of placing shoring under a mast climber, it was discovered that the concrete under the sidewalk along Main Street was severely deteriorated.

The appropriate repairs were made by VIP to this concrete following the removal of the temporary shoring, which required full-depth replacement of the sidewalk and structural concrete slabs and beams above an occupied space. This work required relocating work areas and building a completely dust-free area to enclose sections undergoing repairs, protecting the occupied space from the weather, and installing new concrete and weatherproofing, all within the span of two weeks.

VIP installed high quality repairs in an efficient manner during normal work hours without disrupting the building’s tenants or the general public throughout this multi-year project. Additionally, VIP was recognized and commended by the Akron Regional Air Quality Management District for our use of dustless grinders, which allowed VIP to collect and dispose of all particulate pollutants created by the mortar removal process.