Reconstructing history

The tough part of one of Reyman Bros. Construction's contracts this summer often is simply finding the job site.

The Sparks-based company, a specialist in historic preservation, won a Nevada State Historic Preservation Office contract to repair and maintain the 253 historic markers along the state highways.

But even though the state maintains a database on the location of historic markers, they're not always where they're supposed to be.

"Some of them are quite isolated, at the ends of dirt roads out in the middle of nowhere," says Jace Callender, a project manager with the company.

At times, they're easier to find. One marking the location of the first settlement in the Truckee Meadows is just inside the front door of Atlantis Resort Casino.

Some of the markers are difficult to find, Callender says, because they were relocated by construction crews when highways were widened.

The often-remote locations mean, too, that Reyman Bros. can't be running back to town to work on the signs in its workshops.

Instead, the company created a rig that can take down the signs, fabricate necessary parts, repair steel, concrete or masonry and engrave aluminum plates in the field.

Each of the large, Nevada-shaped signs includes text detailing the significance of the location in the state's history sometimes even its prehistoric past.

Many of the signs, Callender says, have been sandblasted by the elements and need to be repainted. Others, however, have been run over by big rigs or shot up by kids.

The job isn't big the company's bid of $119,781 was low of two companies seeking the contract but Callender says there are other rewards.

"The guys like it because they get to see the state," he says.

Mike Reyman, president of Reyman Bros., adds, "We're thrilled to work on anything related to Nevada's historic and colorful past."

The historical markers, 39 of them located in Washoe County, have been administered by the Historic Preservation Office since the program was initiated in 1967. State prison inmates make the signs, the Nevada State Historical Society reviews the accuracy of the text and state highway crews install the markers.

(A full list of the marker locations is at http://dcnr.nv.gov/markers/hist_mpa.htm.)