Mold and mildew were being washed off the stone exterior of the historic BB Club on Clay Street Tuesday, as Pensacola, Fla.-based Restoration Concepts began a weeklong face lift of the 93-year-old building.

“When we get through cleaning this it’s going to be as clean as the day they put it up there,” said Restoration Concepts owner Patrick Murrell, who has been in the business of cleaning buildings large and small for the past decade.  

The structure at the Walnut Street intersection was erected by Vicksburg’s Jewish community in 1916 as a literary and social club, the B’Nai B’rith Club. Starting in the 1960s, it was city property and headquarters for the Vicksburg Police Department and Municipal Court. When police operations moved to  a new building on Veto Street in 1995, the stately structure was declared surplus and sold. When interior paneling and other changes were pulled away, ornate woodwork and other elements of the three-story structure, which included a basement swimming pool, were revealed, almost unscathed.

Now owned by Dan Fordice, the structure houses a catering business and is rented for wedding receptions and other private functions. The three-story complex measures 16,500 square feet and includes a kitchen, ballroom, stage, orchestra balcony, formal dining room, library, reading room and billiards room.

Murrell said a nontoxic wash that kills biological growth is being applied on the roof and exterior of the building at a low-pressure.

“It looks like a lot of pressure, but you could run your hand through it and it wouldn’t hurt you. We call it a souped-up water hose,” explained Murrell. “In fact, on an old limestone building like this, power-washing could cause some real damage.”  

The typical output of commercial power-washers ranges from 3,000 to 5,000 pounds-per-square-inch, he said, compared to the 400 psi hoses used to clean the BB Club. By Tuesday afternoon much of the building’s facade had already been cleaned, and Murrell estimated the job should be complete by Friday if forecast showers are not too heavy.

The BB Club is the first building in Vicksburg Restoration Concepts has been hired to clean, although Murrell said there are plenty of others in the city that could use a low-pressure wash. It’s a relatively small job for the company compared to others they’ve undertaken, such as cleaning Tiger Stadium on the LSU campus and a practice facility for the Houston Texans. The company also has worked across the country on brick, stucco, limestone and concrete buildings large and small, including hospitals, shopping malls and churches.

Murrell said the BB Club cleaning will come with a three-year warranty, but mold and mildew will not likely become visible on the building for at least another five years.

“You’ll be able to see a lot more of the detail in the architecture when we’re through. This building is going to be very beautiful for a long time,” he said.

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com