The onetime Monroe Elementary School has been transformed into a reborn Children’s Museum. Nearby, along Grand Avenue, a surge of development is yielding new destinations out of long-forgotten structures, which are showcased on a self-guided, adaptive-reuse tour sponsored by the Grand Avenue Arts and Small Business District.

Adaptive reuse is also a way to save a unique or historic building that might otherwise be demolished. The practice benefits the environment by conserving natural resources and minimizing the need for new materials.

In Phoenix, city planners established a program in 2008 that encourages adaptive re-use of buildings that are structurally sound but no longer economically viable in their current condition.

via How to bring a new look to Valley communities: recycle historic structures | Wrangler News.