The feasibility of renovating Ypsilanti's Thompson Block

Concentrate, 10/1/2009

Ypsilanti's Thompson Block might look like a total loss after last week's fire, but not in the eyes of everyone.

Excerpt:

Thompson Block is too far gone from last week's fire to be saved. That's the conventional wisdom for a building with only its shell left after a fire in Michigan.

"Fire is so dramatic and seems so final," says Ted Ligibel, a professor who teaches historic preservation at Eastern Michigan University and runs its award winning historic preservation program.

But is the road less traveled to saving what's left passable or even financially feasible? Stewart Beal thinks so. The developer working to turn the long-time blight into Ypsilanti's latest redevelopment win isn't giving up yet.

"We're planning to save it," Beal says.

Read the rest of the story here.

Ypsilanti