The Walker Art Center is preparing to tear off the burgundy-colored bricks on the museum's section, add new weatherproofing and vapor barriers and then put up new bricks of the same color and design, the Star Tribune reports. The 1971 bricks are near the end of their life, the newspaper says.

The work is to begin in February and be complete by December 2013. The $7 million to $8 million project will be paid for with Walker's contingency fund, the Star Tribune reports.

HGA Architects and Mortenson Construction are handling much of the work.