Source: WNEM
BAY CITY, MI (WNEM) -
A 127-year-old historic building is now undergoing restoration.
The Crapo Building in downtown Bay City will be transformed into a mixed-use building featuring a restaurant, offices and 26 apartments.
The project will cost $12 million to complete.
The building was build in Bay City in 1890. It's architectural character quickly became a staple of downtown.
That all changed in the 1960s when the owners decided to renovate the building, changing the overall look of the historic building.
After the renovation the building quickly became known as the cheese grater because of its new look.
Fast forward to the present, developer Jenifer Acosta is restoring the building to its former glory.
"One of the things that I've been most concerned about for the past year is how to restore it and make it look like that white facade never existed on it," Acosta said.
She calls the project "the Legacy."
"History is really important. It's also important because this is my hometown," Acosta said.
Her goal is to keep what they can restore and recreate what they can't.
"We have to go through and basically restore all the old trim, the doors, save, label. It's very tedious," said Dave Myers, project superintendent.
When the project is complete, the newly restored Crapo building will be home to restaurants, apartments and office spaces.
The top three floors will house 26 luxury apartments and the rest of the building is reserved for commercial spaces. Their hope is to bring more foot traffic to the area.
"It's great to see the community come together to renovate this historical building and rebuild Bay City," Myers said.
Acosta said she is already seeing the impact her project is doing to the rest of the street.
"We want to see, you know, when we paint our fence our neighbors start painting their fence," Acosta said.
The building is expected to be finished in September of 2018.