Bet the brick mason had words for you guys. :-D
I met with two contractors about 6 weeks prior to doing this job. Actually, I looked at this job last year and the zoo people were not prepared for something of this undertaking at that time.
The two contractors that I met with do work for the zoo on a regular basis. They just happened to be bidding against each other. Both knew full well the scope of this job, so there were no hidden surprises when we opened the brick wall up. They were fully aware that many bricks would likely have to be replaced.
The main guy who assisted me (Andy) worked his butt off getting those bricks out. About every 14" there was a metal strap secured to the sheetrock wall, which had to be cut in order to remove those bricks clustered around the straps.
What a job folks!
...JP