The Restoration of the Milwaukee Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse

Milwaukee Federal Building Restoration (final)

 

The Milwaukee Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is one of the most recognizable buildings in the historic downtown district of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Over the last hundred-plus years, the building has seen harsh Wisconsin winters, as well as a hydrofluoric acid cleaning in 1964 that changed the composition of the granite, compromising the integrity of the façade. In 2018, the U.S. General Services Administration commissioned Mills & Schnoering Architects to begin an extensive, two-year restoration of the building’s exterior. Mills & Schnoering turned to The Tradesman Group to clean and repair the façade and all carved ornamentations.

Sponge-Jet’s Silver 60 and Silver 80 Sponge Media products were used for gentle, yet effective micro-abrasion cleaning of 92,000-square-feet of the North building façade, including the tower elevations.