MILWAUKEE— The Milwaukee VA is one of the oldest across the country and with that, comes some buildings that hold a lot of history.

Building 45 on the Milwaukee VA property has been vacant for many years. It used to be the power plant that powered the VA facilities. However, as of lately it has been used to store salt for the winter; it’s conditions are no longer safe and it is going to be demolished.

The plant was built in 1895 out of the iconic cream colored brick that Milwaukee is so well known for. While the building is no longer of use, its bones are still valuable.

“We are going to be carefully taking the building down. Not quite brick by brick but very close to that, so we can salvage as many of these old Cream City bricks as possible,” Scott Ladwig, Milwaukee VA reengineering technician, said.

Ladwig is an engineering technician with the Milwaukee VA and is working on this project. He said it’s a lot of work, but it will be totally worth it.

“We probably could tear this down in two or three days normally. But we are looking at around three weeks at this point, to control and take the bricks down carefully and not damage any more than we have to,” Ladwig said.

While this building is made of all cream colored bricks, many are deteriorating. The team has a goal of preserving around 1,500 bricks to be able to save to repair other buildings on site that are built with the classic cream color.

“Cream City brick was made in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Generally it was local but we did ship some as far away as Chicago and New York,” Ladwig said.

The brick is iconic and historic to the city which is why the VA planned to save as much as they can.

The building will be taken down and made into a parking lot for patients at the VA. They have a goal of completing this project by the end of June.