Historic U of M Bricks for Sale
Remember when the historic Wilma Theater was renovated by Logjam to become The Wilma and we all bought some of the theater chairs that were torn out? This is a lot like that, except it's bricks from the U of M Oval and walking paths on campus. For 50 bucks, you can own a pallet of U of M history. Maybe you legit have a building project and need bricks, or you just want to buy some to hand out to friends and family as keepsakes.
You probably noticed the large-scale construction project going on at the Oval this summer that made walkways smoother and safer, especially for wheelchairs and bikes. It was a $250,000 project to repair the old brick walkways that had plenty of wear and tear considering they were originally used for downtown Missoula streets between 1912 and 1914. Some were moved to build the Oval walkways in 1969. So the extra heavy bricks have been through a lot of history.
UM maintenance supervisor Chris Newlon and his team had a LOT of bricks to repurpose and reuse for future campus projects, about 70,000 of them. The rest are up for auction through October 22nd. You can get yours here.
When you hit that link to buy bricks you'll also see other items up for auction, including truck seats, a grill, a dishwasher and even some chairs. I had no idea that the U of M has an ongoing auction page for random items they need to get rid of, pretty cool!
Maintenance dude Chris Newlon said the pallets are ideal for a small-scale projects like a patio, fire ring or a garden project.
“Because these bricks were originally made for roadways, they are heavier (about 6 pounds) than modern bricks and much more durable,” he said. “We encourage anyone with either a construction project or fond memory of the original brick walkways to consider bidding.”