Boston, MA The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has awarded an $8.3 million contract for masonry repairs to the historic John W. McCormack Post Office and Courthouse to a woman-owned, locally-based business, Stone and Lime Inc.

Stone and Lime will specifically focus on the building’s façade, which is in need of masonry repair. The company, started in 2004 by Patricia Pelchat, has extensive experience doing historic masonry work, including well-known locations like Fort Adams in Newport, R.I., Fort Jefferson in Florida, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian House at Florida Southern University. Estimated completion for the project is late 2020.

The McCormack building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was constructed in downtown between 1931 and 1933 as a monumental expression of the city’s regional and national stature. 

It replaced a Second Empire style Post Office and Sub-Treasury Building that had occupied the site since the early 1870s.