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Patience pays off
Spray-O-Bond spends six years on restoration project
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Revitalization of any historic building is expected to take some time.
But for the last six years, Spray-O-Bond has been working on the overhaul of the Pabst Mansion.
Robert Forrer, president of Spray-O-Bond Co., said he was willing to take the time on the historical house that sits along Milwau-kee’s Lake Michigan waterfront because he wanted “to get it right.”
Forrer said exterior work on the project, completed last fall to the tune of $1.2 million, was intense but well worth the little struggles.
“It’s been a treat [to work] on a very visible and ornate facility here in Milwaukee,” he said.
Restoration efforts at the building, built in the 1890s, included the reconstruction of a large chimney to match its original dimensions, replacement of decorations or elements removed or destroyed over time, bolstering roof work and restoration of the terra cotta accents used throughout the Flemish Renaissance Revival-style complex.
Work on the terra cotta accents, found in finials atop each stepped gable and in many other ornamental aspects of the mansion, was time consuming, Forrer said, because much of it had to be outlined, shipped to and then recreated by an East Coast firm.
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Project Essentials Project
name: Exterior of The Captain Frederick Pabst Mansion
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Records were used to ensure historical accuracy at every step of the project.
“The caretakers are very particular and interested in as close to perfection as possible,” Forrer said.
Protective materials were laid under the roof to keep weather elements from encroaching into the base of the structure, and some copper tubing and flashing were fabricated to let a water spout function properly.
Additional phases of construction for the building’s interior are under way.
Projects include a detailed rehabilitation of a gift shop, which was initially commissioned by Capt. Pabst as a beer hall for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, where his beer received the Blue Ribbon Award that later became the Pabst namesake.
— Justin Kern