GSA Border Station

Facade Replacement

GSA Border Station
International Falls, Minnesota

OWNER:

U.S. General Services Administration
230 South Dearborn Street, Room 3820
Chicago, IL 60604

ARCHITECT:

1/6 

   

DLR Group
9521 West 78th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55344-3853

FACILITY:

GSA Border Station
2 Second Avenue
International Falls, MN 56649

DETAILS:

The Border Station in International Falls handles over 2.8 million border crossings each year, the largest of any Minnesota crossing. In addition to a heavy amount of tourist and freight traffic coming to and from Canada, it also has train traffic serving the neighboring Boise Cascade paper mill, crossing through its property.

The existing face brick which consisted of concrete masonry units clad with tile was delaminating and falling off of the building posing a hazard to the civilian and federal employees walking or driving below the building. Our contract was to remove all of the existing face block and replace with a new ceramic glazed brick. New brick was to match the existing brick in color and style as well as handle the harsh conditions of International Falls. With work being performed at the peak of tourist season, a substantial amount of pedestrian, vehicle and train traffic combined with a very confined site created numerous construction challenges. Even with all of these constraints we were able to complete the project ahead of schedule with the Border Station remaining operational through out construction.