Work will start Monday to repair approximately 200 bricks mistakenly damaged by a contractor who was supposed to leave historic parts of the Freedmen's Town road untouched.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the plan to remedy the segment on Thursday, pledging to work with community leaders in Fourth Ward not only to preserve the bricks – laid by former slaves and their sons – but develop a historic district in the area to protect African American history in the neighborhood.

“​We cannot undo the mistakes of two weeks ago, but we can ensure the area is not forgotten,” Turner said.

Specifics of what the historic district would develop or what limits it could put on buildings in the bustling area are part of creating it, Turner said.

Workers with BRH-Garver Construction displaced the bricks Nov. 21 when they attempted to move a buried concrete slab impeding their work on a drainage project along Genessee. Raising the slab with a backhoe brought up a six-foot-by-10-foot section of the bricks on Andrews, outside the bounds of the construction area.

The crew was stopped by a resident, and the bricks were salvaged and saved.

Turner said after they are cleaned and some are removed to make a straight line along the current drainage project, all of the bricks will be returned to their original place by the contractor.

That work, he assured residents, would occur with a city archaeologist overseeing the job on-site. While unfortunate, Turner said he had reiterated the need to preserve the area and the city will improve how it oversees projects in Freedmens Town so mishaps won’t happen.

“​What we can do is do our very best to repair the damage,” he said.