NEBRASKA CITY – The brick enclosures and sidewalks that were part of Joy Morton’s expansion to Arbor Lodge after the 1902 death of his father   are being restored to last another 100 years or more.

Restoration work in 2006 did not endure the decade, with wall caps cracking and loose steps on the staircases that descend from the mansion to a pergola and popular site for modern weddings.

 

 

 

Park caretakers say they are encouraged this summer by the preventative care and repairs by third-generation brick layer Thomas Olk of Gretna, who is building a reputation for historical restoration.

He is rebuilding the entire bottom staircase to improve safety, but says the caps on the surrounding walls remain a top priority.

Olk: “We need to keep up with the masonry repairs, specifically the wall caps, because once water starts getting in, then the rest of the wall is going to go.”

He described many of the bricks as fire-flashed like those in the street pavers common to Nebraska City at that time. A newspaper report said laying bricks on upper Central Avenue was delayed in 1903 because a coal shortage meant a local kiln could not be fired.

 1902-03 photo courtesy of Arbor Lodge State Park

The coal shortage was not the only obstacle to the project either. Joy Morton arrived in Nebraska City with architect E. Burnett of New York in October of 1903. Burnett was injured when his horse stepped into a gopher hole and he was thrown to the ground. He was laid up at Arbor Lodge for a lengthy recovery.

Olk: “These brick walls here have a very special brick bond where the brick walls are intertwined and bonded together, which is why this huge retaining wall in the rose garden hasn’t failed yet because everything is connected.”

Of the 10s of thousands of bricks used on the south garden, Olk expects 90 percent to be salvageable.