Historical Preservation - JE Dunn Construction

Preservation is foundational to building the future of Oklahoma City

Madison Parry — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 14:37:01 +0000

Technology Aiding in Historic Building Restoration

Madison Parry — Sat, 18 Oct 2025 14:21:53 +0000

American Swedish Institute

Grayson Brucato — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 14:31:56 +0000

The Turnblad Mansion was built from 1903-1908 by Swan Turnblad, a Swedish immigrant; just 21 years later, the mansion was donated to the public as a place to preserve Swedish customs and culture. JE Dunn led a comprehensive restoration of the mansion’s exterior and interior. A complete masonry restoration was performed, cleaning and replacing elements as needed with custom-carved replacement stonework, bringing the exterior back to its original glory. The project also reclaimed space in the carriage house for use as administrative space with a new floor plan, added elevator, and restored original finishes, including tile flooring, tile wainscot, hardwood floors, stained wood staircases, and plaster walls, ceilings, and decorative crown moldings.

As with any historic renovation, this project came with its fair share of challenges. During construction of the new elevator, it was found that the existing footings were much shallower than anticipated and the soil was very dry where the elevator was to be installed, meaning additional work was required. The construction team worked with the architects and engineers to properly underpin the existing foundation, and the elevator was installed into a new shaft created at the proper depth per code.

Bringing this much-loved, historic building up to modern standards so it can be fully used by staff, visitors, and the community required a combination of tactics and techniques from cutting edge and state of the art to traditional and historic. The project placed an emphasis on maintaining the historic style of construction and keeping the building as historically accurate as possible, while updating to modern standards for safety, sustainability, and quality. Additional historic character exposed during demolition needed to be salvaged and integrated into the renovation while still meeting original project goals.

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Restoring Value and Culture on Campus: Historic Education Facility Renovations

Grayson Brucato — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 18:37:41 +0000

The value and cultural representation of historic education facilities bring a sense of nostalgia to many communities and campuses across the nation. Historic renovations are significant for preserving history and breathing new life into old buildings and environments. With some buildings having decades of neglect, these deteriorating environments can have significant accessibility and code deficiencies.

When considering the options to preserve a historic building, it’s imperative to renovate the space so the owner can use it to the best of its ability. There are three major factors when renovating a historic building:

Early Contractor Onboarding
Identifying Unforeseen Conditions
Using the Right Technology and Tools to Mitigate Potential Challenges

Early Contractor Onboarding

Owners often must come to a consensus on what to do with a historic building. These buildings, due to code and infrastructure needs, are difficult to keep up. Should you demolish and completely rebuild, do a comprehensive renovation, or do a partial demolition mixed in with an addition and renovation? Often, it is easier to completely tear down a building and build a new one in its place. However, on education campuses in particular, these buildings have sentimental value, and the answer isn’t always that simple. Having a contractor onboard early in the process will help keep the budget and schedule in check due to the number of unforeseen obstacles that can come with renovating an older building.

Rockhurst University Sedgwick Hall
The JE Dunn team worked through this process on a recent addition and renovation of the historic Sedgwick Hall on the Rockhurst University campus in Kansas City, Missouri. During the preconstruction phase, our team worked with the design consultant and Rockhurst University to determine the best use of the building and land. Through many different design charrettes with complementing estimates, we presented three options:
Demolition and a completely new building
Complete renovation
Partial demolition, small addition, and renovation
Through this process, our team determined it would be best to move forward with option three. This allowed the owner to have the most square footage with the desired programming included. Additionally, it allowed the fourth floor to remain as shell space for future expansion.
Consciously designed, the renovation preserved 90% of the building’s original structure and incorporated pieces from the existing building as a reminder of the thousands of students, faculty, and staff who have walked through the halls for more than a century. The new design seized the opportunity to shine a new light on these original features, creating a space that fosters a connection between students and the building’s history.

Collaborating with the contractor as early as possible in the process allows them to dig deeper into the building to find the unforeseen. The builder can come to the table and ask the right questions to mitigate risks before construction begins, including the current and future needs of the building.

Understanding and honoring the original craftsmanship is very valuable so that a new, revived appearance and function do not detract from its historic importance. Another advantage of early onboarding is identifying the availability of specialized, skilled labor for these custom spaces. Specialty renovation scopes such as plaster, glass, stone, and other unique elements require a specific skill set. Owners should be prepared to identify potential qualified trades and understand the possible need to import talent for their project.

Identifying Unforeseen Conditions

We’ve uncovered the importance of having a contractor onboarded early. Part of the reason is so they can ask the right questions ahead of construction. Now we’ll dive into the importance of identifying unforeseen conditions. We call this the exploratory phase, and it must take place during or even prior to preconstruction. If the contractor is onboarded, they are able to thoroughly examine the site with a fine-tooth comb to uncover any unforeseen conditions.

With JE Dunn’s experience handling historic renovations, we know it’s difficult to see certain aspects of a building with the naked eye. Also, unfortunately, many of these buildings don’t have the original drawings, but we do know that there are some components in the archives. It’s important to gather as much information as possible about the original building along with any renovation work that has been completed. Of course, no one can tell what will be uncovered during construction. However, the more that can be caught early in the process, the better chance you have to stay on schedule and budget.

Identifying these unforeseen conditions will allow the project to move forward with construction. But what happens when more conditions arise during construction? How do we mitigate the issues while staying on schedule and within budget?

You can plan out a project to a tee, but there are always going to be setbacks, especially with a historic landmark. One of the most pertinent pieces of advice we can give owners is to have a large enough construction contingency plan. JE Dunn leverages lessons learned along with cost history from previous historic renovations and can provide valuable input during the planning for unforeseen conditions. This helps determine what to do when challenges arise during construction.

Rockhurst University Sedgwick Hall
During construction the construction of Sedgwick Hall, JE Dunn uncovered additional conditions in the historical building that changed the design:
Window lintels were all rusted out and needed to be replaced.
Building slabs were out of level and lightweight concrete needed to be added throughout the building.
The building structure was originally thought to be cast-in-place concrete and later found to be steel encapsulated in concrete which required re-engineering and changing all the structural building connections.
Structural cracks and concerns were uncovered multiple times which required shoring and new structural reinforcing for the building.
Through re-sequencing and coordination, we were able to complete the project on the original schedule despite the additional scope.

Northtown High School Old Main Renovation
Originally built in 1925, Old Main High School in Kansas City, Missouri had multiple additions and renovations over the years. The project started with a two-phased addition to the historic landmark. Our team went through the provided drawings and found what they thought were structurally sound columns they could build from. Once demolition began, the team found that the columns were not in fact structurally sound. Due to the nature of the impeding infrastructure, the team had to go back to the drawing board and figure out the best plan of action.
After working with the North Kansas City Public School District and design team, we collectively it was best to demo the entire inside of the building to its shell. In the end, the JE Dunn team ultimately built a building within a building. The decision to go in this direction allowed Old Main to be transformed into a modern, vibrant space while retaining the historic elements that provide a link to the past.

Using the Right Technology and Tools

The ever-changing landscape of education today requires historic education facilities to meet new functional needs as well as safety standards and accessibility. Having a strong background in historic preservation of education facilities, JE Dunn has the tools and technologies required to meet these requirements. We can now laser scan, graphically document, and 3D print elements, allowing us to better absorb and reproduce historic elements. To effectively preserve existing historic elements, we must first understand how they were originally designed and created. This allows us to faithfully reproduce historic details and capture the original character of a building. Understanding and honoring the original craftsmanship is very important so that the new, revived appearance and function do not detract from the historic importance.

Part of the challenge in renovating older buildings is maximizing the use of space while maintaining historic finishes. With many complex historic renovations, we don’t always get a full picture of the space until we are already into the project. Technology can ameliorate this problem; with laser scanning, we can determine the actual condition and precise coordinates of building features. This eliminates the possibility of uncovering unforeseen items during construction, which slows the construction process and increases project costs. Laser scanning changes our approach; we can tweak the design to maximize the use of space, and we can renovate at a quicker pace because we are able to plan and coordinate the design like we would on a new building.

Owners who are considering a renovation project must put a great deal of consideration into who they hire to do the work — both from a design and a construction standpoint. At JE Dunn, we pride ourselves on our extensive experience with historic renovations and using technology and expertise to be able to “see through the walls” and anticipate what is ahead. You may find unique conditions when restoring historic buildings, but having the right project team, tools and technology can avoid surprises and help to develop effective solutions. This approach can successfully bring back the grandeur and history while making it more accessible and usable in the present and future.

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JE Dunn’s Appreciation of State Capitol Renovations

Grayson Brucato — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 21:01:09 +0000

JE Dunn has emerged as a leader in historic preservation, which is highlighted in state capitol renovation work across the country.

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Oklahoma State Capitol Restoration

dev-jedunn — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 15:12:11 +0000

JE Dunn led the renovation, repair, and restoration of the exterior of the Oklahoma State Capitol, which was originally built in 1917. Working closely with the design team to evaluate and design, the scope of work included repointing of mortar joints, a painstaking and time-consuming process to protect the building from water infiltration; repair of cracked and damaged stone using the Dutchman Repair process; stone cleaning using a micro-abrasive process; scaffolding to allow the stone masons to gain access to all areas of the building’s exterior; restoring all 477 windows that surround the building and replacing all four wings of the existing copper roofing.

After a century of heavy use, harsh weather and inconsistent maintenance and preservation efforts, the building’s mechanical systems were failing, the exterior façade was crumbling and its prospects of meeting the state’s needs for another hundred years were fading. Recognizing the need to act, the Legislature enacted legislation providing funding for the Capitol’s first-ever comprehensive, top-to-bottom restoration.

There were over 21 miles of mortar joints on the Oklahoma Capitol. Due to the poor condition of the existing mortar, every single joint on the building had to be ground out and new mortar installed. It was a painstaking and time-consuming process in order to protect the building from water infiltration. JE Dunn tested various mortar types on the building to determine how well they weather Oklahoma’s climate and relate to the limestone, in order to deliver the best solution.

There were 240 locations on the Capitol where stone spalled and had to be repaired. Using the Dutchman Repair process, the damaged area was cut out and replaced with a new piece of stone. Stainless steel anchors were also installed. The repairs are barely visible to the naked eye and unnoticeable at higher elevations. The project was a 2020 AGC Build Oklahoma Award Recipient.

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Historic Kansas State Capitol

dev-jedunn — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 17:15:54 +0000

JE Dunn Construction was hired to preserve and restore the historic Kansas Statehouse located in the heart of Topeka. The project was designed as a 10-year, 6-phase project, which allowed for staggered completion dates of the interior restoration of the east, west, north, and south wings. Much of the interior space was restored to its earlier grandeur and includes the restoration of the Governor’s office to its earlier circa 1900s design. The Senate Chamber also received notable restoration including the return of the wild Kansas cherry wood desks dating back to 1885.

Additional projects consisted of the construction of a new 2-level, 561-car underground parking garage situated below the north lawn of the Capitol, new underground vaults for additional office space and new mechanical systems, a new Visitor Center with a U-shaped drive, and a north plaza.

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United States Air Force Academy

dev-jedunn — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 19:17:27 +0000

JE Dunn is currently renovating the Historic U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel in Colorado Springs, CO. Considered one of the most recognized icons in the U.S. and most visited Colorado landmark, the Cadet Chapel was built in 1963 and designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago. It was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2004 and is home to six worship spaces; a 1,950-pipe organ; and a 4,518-pipe organ. The Chapel is 150 feet tall and is most known for its 17 metal spires, or tetrahedrons, enclosed with aluminum panels and Dalles de Verre Glass. It includes a Protestant chapel, a Catholic chapel, a Jewish synagogue, a Muslim Mosque, a Buddhist temple, a Falcon Circle, and All Faiths rooms. JE Dunn constructed a super structure over the Chapel to protect the building from weather as they disassembled the structure for refurbishing. The organs, pews, and stained-glass windows were removed for refurbishment, preserving all original pieces and the history of the Chapel.

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University of Minnesota Pillsbury Hall

dev-jedunn — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 16:13:08 +0000

JE Dunn performed a rehabilitation of Pillsbury Hall, the second-oldest building on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. Originally constructed in 1887 as a science hall, the renovated building now serves as a home for the Department of English, the University’s top-ranked Creative Writing Program, and the Humanities Engagement Hub.
Decades of neglect had left Pillsbury Hall deteriorating and with significant accessibility and code deficiencies. The 16-month project transformed it into a modern, vibrant learning space while retaining the historic elements that provide a link to the past. A new stair tower occupies the distinctive turret, with the restored original stonework of the interior walls exposed. The attic space, previously used as storage space, has been transformed into a soaring venue where natural light floods the wide space crossed by the original timber support beams – ideal for events such as guest lectures and author readings.

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Minnesota State Capitol

dev-jedunn — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 19:40:42 +0000

The Minnesota State Capitol is Minnesota’s most famous landmark, originally constructed in 1905 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A comprehensive renovation was completed to address the needs of restoration, life safety, accessibility, preservation, and long-term functionality. Key design features include raised ceiling heights, restoration of the vast decorative painting and fine art murals, new skylights, and new historically appropriate elevators. A complete overhaul of the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems was performed. Exterior work includes stone restoration, historic window replacement, and new copper roofing. Ornate stonework required master carvers to be on-site for several years. All Capitol plazas and grand stair entries were removed, waterproofed, and reinstalled. Work also includes a new main plaza public gathering space, bus drop offs, and security measures. A pedestrian tunnel connects the Capitol to other State buildings.

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