Bethel Church

Bethel Missionary Baptist Church was founded in the late nineteenth century
in a post-Civil War Houston neighborhood established by formerly enslaved
people. After the first church buildings were destroyed, a single-floor structure
was erected in 1923. In 2005, a fire left only the exterior masonry walls in
place. The facility was abandoned until 2009, when the city purchased the
property to convert it into a community park. The existing walls had to be
strengthened to withstand hurricane wind speeds required by the city’s
building code. United restored the heavily damaged, unreinforced masonry
walls by completing brick crack repairs, brick replacement and rebuild,
installing retro-fit masonry anchors, and installing engineered reinforcement
into existing masonry walls. Additionally, United cleaned the structures
exterior and applied an elastomeric coating to the new stucco façade.