By Frank Passic, Albion Historian
One of Albion’s community assets is its downtown brick Superior Street on M-99. It has existed since the beginning of the 20th century. This summer, the Michigan Department of Transportation is doing some maintenance on our Superior St. bricks to extend their life into the future. Our present brick street was laid in 2017 and 2018, and included a new concrete base underneath. It replaced the bricks that were laid in 1993.
The 1993 project was a challenge to local merchants as well as for the Greater Albion Chamber of Commerce. The rebricking was instituted by MDOT to replace the bricks that had been laid in 1940. The Chamber, in an effort to help its downtown merchants, organized a promotional campaign entitled “Paving the Way for a Superior Future.” Back-door entrance signage and address numbers were placed on the rear entrances of stores, and the Chamber did all it could to help lessen the disruption the project caused. There were buttons issued, a special Albion post office postmark issued, and various promotions were held throughout the summer of 1993.
The first 1940 bricks were torn up at the S. Superior/Erie St. intersection on Wednesday, May 12, 1993 at 7:50 a.m. The 1940 bricks measure 8 ½” long, 4 ¼” wide, and 3” thick. Their weight is 8 pounds each! The bricks were hauled to the Albion Tree Dump on Brownswood Road and were sold for 50 cents each. Many people in town purchased these for their gardens, sidewalks and boundaries. One woman from out of town purchased a large quantity of them to pave her driveway with.
The new bricks arrived in Albion on Monday afternoon, June 14, 1993, and in the subsequent weeks were hand laid by a Brazilian work crew which spoke Portuguese. Hand installation began on Friday, June 18, 1993 at the Ash St. intersection, moving northwards.
The 1993-laid velour paver bricks were the smallest of all. They were manufactured in Bigler, Pennsylvania by the Glen-Gery Brick Corporation. Although they measured 8” x 4”, they were only 2 ¼ “ thick. Red colored bricks were used for the driving areas, with pedestrian, center, and parking lines marked by ivory-colored bricks.
A positive feature of the project was the restoration of the brick pavement between Erie and Ash Streets, which had been removed in 1936 for paving with asphalt. This allowed for a complete bricking of the entire downtown business district on Superior St. The addition of the Erie to Ash St. section was made possible as the result of an historical restoration grant by the Michigan Department of Transportation.
The major downfall of the 1993 project was not replacing the 1940-poured concrete base. After a couple more years had passed, portions of the 1940 concrete base began to crack and sink, leaving Superior St. very bumpy. Another problem was created at the railroad tracks when the railroad raised the elevation of their rails during the project. This caused the elevation angle of the hill on Superior St. south of the tracks to increase. When large trucks had to stop for the new light signal and then started up again, the torque caused pulling on the bricks. Thus, twenty-four years later, it was time for MDOT to install a new brick street. That was accomplished in 2017 and 2018– this time with a new concrete base underneath.
From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photo of 1940 bricks being removed on S. Superior St. on Wednesday, May 12, 1993. The location is in front of the Fedco variety store. Also illustrated is the promotional logo used by the Greater Albion Chamber of Commerce. How many of our readers purchased 1940 bricks from the city in 1993 for use at home?
I originally left Michigan (Albion) in 1983 but I use to have a brick from casscarelli’s old building before he moved location to main st.