UGRR Days 2024 was the first time Brownsville #1 opened to the public since URSCC purchased the building in November, 2022. Approximately 100 visitors browsed the photographs and informational displays while observing the preservation progress. With foundation work complete, URSCC will begin roofing as soon as funds allow. Please consider a donation! Once the roof has been replaced, the windows, siding, and interior work will follow.
The Huizenga Family Foundation in Niles, MI awarded URSCC $10,000 for Brownsville preservation work. This gift coupled with gifts from many individuals, has enabled URSCC to begin work on the foundation. Despite winter weather setting in, Gene Deubner and his Quality Masonry crew have installed frost fittings and set jack posts to secure the building until the next phase of foundation stabilization commences in the spring. When weather permits, Quality Masonry will shore up and dig out a corner of the building, pour a footing, lay eight inch block, and cover the block with thin stone to look original.
Preservation work will continue with the roof, windows, siding, and interior to follow as funding permits. Estimates for all phases of restoration total $150,000. To date generous donors, including the Huizenga Family Foundation, have contributed $33,700. Grant writing and fundraising efforts continue!
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