Downtown Farmington’s McNut building gets new façade

Downtown Farmington is putting on a new face this spring as the McNut building undergoes a facadectomy. The single-story structure next to the Civic Theatre is about to get its original look back, and a second story to boot. “Something that fits in with the historic architecture of downtown Farmington,” says Steven Schneemann, owner of S3 Architecture, which designed the new façade.The century-old structure served as the home of Books Abound for years near the intersection of Grand River Avenue and Farmington Road before going vacant a few years ago. An ugly mid-20th Century façade covered it for most of that time.The 1,600-square-foot structure is being renovated to accommodate an office tenant. The space is still available. A new second story false front will top the brick façade. A similar job was done to the nearby Exchange Building last year.The project is expected to wrap up by July.Source: Steven Schneemann, owner of S3 ArchitectureWriter: Jon Zemke