Today, Albion’s brick downtown is part of the Superior Street Commercial Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The bricks complement the Italianate storefronts and historic facades lining the street, making them as much a cultural landmark as a functional roadway. Regular maintenance, like the work carried out this week, is essential for keeping that legacy intact. Without treatment, the joints between the bricks would deteriorate over time, allowing water to seep in and cause damage during Michigan’s harsh freeze-thaw cycles.

For residents and business owners, the temporary inconvenience of a closed street comes with the assurance that Albion’s signature roadway will endure for future generations. Albion has long shown pride in its brick main street, celebrating each new generation of improvements. The work of 2025 adds another chapter to that story—a blend of history, engineering, and community identity written one brick at a time. Much of this history has been carefully recorded by Albion historian Frank Passic, who has been researching and writing about Albion and its people since the 1970s.

A graduate of Albion High School and Spring Arbor University, Frank has contributed weekly articles for nearly fifty years, sharing Albion’s heritage in the Morning Star, The Recorder, and on his long-running website, albionmich.com.