The towers of the old Ponce de Leon Hotel — now Flagler College’s Ponce Hall — are undergoing their first intensive restoration.

Primarily made of terra cotta, the towers are solidly built, according to Roland Ray of Byron & James, Inc, the construction company working on the restoration. But their age — the Ponce was built in 1888 — is catching up to them. The towers have small cracks that worsen during rainy weather, as water causes them to expand.

Byron & James is fixing that problem by repairing cracked areas and recasting them with concrete, in addition to reinforcing the entire structure with steel rods. Work on the roughly $560,000 project began this spring and should wrap up before fall classes begin.

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