By Mark Cowling | Florence Reminder
Restoring a cherished old building probably sounds like a labor of love, but it’s actually a meandering journey fraught with great challenges, expenses and risks, downtown Florence landlord Gem Cox told an audience June 8 at the annual Arizona Historic Preservation Conference.
Cox was one of five speakers in a forum on “Problems, Pitfalls & Economic Feasibility of Rehabilitating 19th and 20th Century Buildings in the 21st Century.”
Cox told his listeners the first thing they’ll need is experience, and if they lack experience, they’ll need to hire extremely competent contractors. “(It’s the) same with architects, engineers, electricians, plumbers — (they) all have to be able to work in challenging old buildings.”
