Work progresses on Koester House brick shed

Workers busily moved to and fro last week, climbing up and down scaffolding, hauling brick to be laid along the south face of a quaint, red-brick shed behind Marysvilles Koester House Museum.

Formerly used to store firewood and later coal by the Koester family in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the shed is undergoing a facelift by McKinley Masonry, Seneca.

Restoration at the museum started last year. It is paid through a Heritage Trust Fund grant from the Kansas Historical Society and matching private and city funds.

Brickmason Ben McKinley and his workers have removed the south face of the shed and salvaged as many of the 136-year-old bricks as possible. McKinley said they clean and line them up on pallets, ready for another century of wall support.

They came last week. On a cool, sunny morning, a large heater blasted warm air under a plastic sheath on the buildings south side. It warmed the space to 40 degrees, allowing the masonry to restart and the bustling began.

Working with McKinley are his brother, Mike McKinley, Seneca and Jeff James, Humboldt, Neb.

While removing the south face, they also dug up existing footing limestones under the shed and repoured a new foundation.

They then reused the limestone to complete the base and began to lay brick.

Were trying now to take advantage of the weather, McKinley said.

This week they are working on the buildings arched entryway and arched second-story opening, grinding out and replacing old mortar with new. They tuckpoint the brick, putting a bit of mortar on a long skinny trowel and filling in the space between bricks where mortar was removed with a grinder.

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Work progresses on Koester House brick shed