Patrick Sparks: engineer, preservationist, Texan. Sparks Engineering is a short distance from an I-35 exit on North Flores Street, located in a San Antonio historic home, surrounded by old street names, Euclid, Elmina, Jackson. Originally a home built with caliche blocks (also known as San Antonio Soft Rock) in 1881 by Celestine Villamain.
We are meeting Sparks, who has invited us to tour San Antonio’s historic missions. After an office conversation of wrought iron, shop and field rivets, and heat straightening, we leave for our tour with Sparks as our guide. His large, white, Chevrolet Suburban will transport us to the missions; it takes two steps to reach the passenger seat, a vehicle that seems appropriate for Patrick Sparks, a Texan.
Mission Espada is the first mission complex we explore, where Sparks Engineering has done significant restoration work on the Catholic church building. It is here we realize this is not merely a Texan native touring out-of-towners around historic sites but a revelation of Sparks’ commitment to preservation of the historic craftsman’s record. This record can only be found in the materials used in the construction details, found in the walls of stone and mortar. Sparks’ interpretation of these unwritten records (size, shape, source of materials, native building construction methods, etc.) results in the blending of modern materials and tools with the existing centuries-old structure to preserve these historic buildings and allow future generations of craftsmen to accurately interpret these unwritten records and to continue their preservation.
