The restoration contractors who renovated the exterior of Albert Lea’s Freeborn National Bank and Jacobson Apartment buildings have won another award for their work to the historic buildings.

Albert Lea Mayor Mike Murtaugh said Monday the contractors received the 2009 Honor Award for Excellence in Concrete Design and Construction from the Minnesota Concrete and Masonry Contractor Association.

The category for the award was commercial masonry restoration for residential and commercial buildings.

The city received the award in the mail on Friday.

In February 2008, restoration contractors for the Freeborn National Bank and Jacobson Apartment buildings were awarded an “Excellence in Construction” award through the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. for their work done on the historic buildings. That award was specifically for a historical renovation project costing between $500,000 and $1 million.

The Freeborn National Bank and Jacobson buildings were originally constructed in the 1920s. They have been vacant since the early 1990s but were purchased by Albert Lea in 1998 out of concerns that they might be lost.

Up to the beginning of the renovation — which was completed in the spring of 2007 — the buildings had gone architecturally unchanged since their original construction.

The architect for the renovation was GLT Architects, the general contractor was Winkelman Building Corp. and the masonry contractor was Building Restoration Corp.

The city owns the buildings.