Community Center roof repair gets authentic Spanish barrel tiles
When the Boca Grande Community Center gets its new roof this spring, it will have something in common with the c. 951 Sobrado Abbey in Galacia, Spain, and many other historic sites across the U.S. and Europe.
The Community Center will have historically accurate and long-lasting clay tiles from the company Verea Tile, also known as Tejas Verea.
“Staff and commissioners are excited for this project,” said Lee County Assistant County Manager Christine Brady, who oversees Parks & Recreation projects, among other departments. “It’s important to us to pay attention to historic details,”
The contract to repair the roof came before the Lee County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday, March 5. The contract has a component for the Community Center and for the smaller school roof.
The contract also includes repairs to the tile roof of The Island School. Both roofs were damaged by Hurricane Ian in September of 2022, so the Disaster Relief Fund through the Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing $183,908.80 for the repair contract.
The agenda item awarded the work to CMM Roofing, Inc. of Port Charlotte.
The Verea Tile is imported from the town of A Coruña, Spain.
Rich Wasieleski, territorial manager for the West Coast of Florida for Verea Tile, said that while he is not familiar with this actual roof project, tiles from his company are used across Florida.
“On the West Coast, most of the jobs are individual homes,” Wasieleski said.
Unlike concrete-based tile roofs, he said that the clay-based tile lasts much longer. It does not absorb moisture like concrete tile, so there are fewer issues with mold. It is also lighter, which means less stress on the building.
“Our type of weather, that’s where you get the mold build up,” Wasieleski said.
One other aspect to keeping the costs down over the long term is the issue of replacements. With many concrete tiles, he said that the manufacturers “tend to change profiles and colors.”
With Verea, there are only a few choices of tiles, and those tile styles have remained over decades. That means that matching the tiles decades down the road is possible.
“The colors are going to be the same over 50 years,” Wasieleski said. “You can place another order for that red color.”
While the sustainable production includes clay, a process and type of building element known since Egyptian times, the production is now much more exacting.
“It’s automated, and precise in the dimension,” Wasieleski said.
The Boca Grande Community Center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, added March 30, 1995. It is described by the National Parks Service as in the Mission and Spanish Colonial Revival style, designed originally as the Boca Grande School by N. Gaillard Walker, who designed many buildings for Lee County. Walker’s other well known work in Lee County is the Jewett-Thompson House. Walker also designed the lab at Thomas Edison’s Estate and buildings in South Carolina.
The school closed in 1964, and remained vacant until 1972. It was renovated in 1973 to provide rooms for clubs and organizations, its current use.
The Boca Grande Design Guidelines Manual specifically mentions the roof at the Community Center. It calls the building an example of the Mediterranen Revival, with the nearby Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in the Mission Style.
