Masons were seen last week, preparing to lay blonde brick on blonde brick in the reconstruction of the 122-year-old Gamble Block at 1203 Second St. in downtown Perry.
The building suffered extensive damage to the roof and the southwest upper corner of the structure in the devastating Aug. 10, 2020, derecho wind storm, which caused a large section of brick wall to collapse onto a parked car along Warford Street.
The restoration is being directed by Indianola-based Downing Construction Inc. The Belden Brick Co. of Canton, Ohio, supplied the bricks that match the building’s distinctive color.
The Gamble Block, erected in 1899 and now on the National Register of Historic Buildings, for many years housed 15 one-bedroom apartments and two large offices on the second and third floors and commercial concerns on the street level.
