SALISBURY — A large-scale renovation project on a historic building in downtown Salisbury is wrapping up, and tenants are already moving in.

The Bell Block Building at the corner of Fisher and South Main streets has been empty for years, but efforts by the Salisbury Historic Foundation kept it in good shape.

“Got to give a shoutout to Historic Salisbury Foundation,” said Dan Mikkelson, a carpenter who worked on the restoration project. “In the 1970s, they bought the building. They put a roof on it. So when we came in here, it had been protected from 30 more years of water damage. It’s in very good shape for a building its age.”

The three-story Richardsonian-Romanesque structure was built in 1898. It was named for the sister of David Gaskill, a tobacco magnate from around the turn of the 20th century who nearly became Salisbury’s mayor. Its prominence and proximity to central downtown made it a popular location for business people.

“At the time, all the big-wigs had offices here,” said Bill Greene, who, along with his wife, Cora, has been behind the project.

While the physical restoration has been happening for slightly more than two years, Bill said the vision took a decade.

“We have always had an eye on it,” Bill said. “Cora always mentioned it was one of her favorite buildings in town. It took the right team and the right time to pull it all together. We are lucky to be here.”

Along with the Greenes and Mikkelson, the team also consisted of general contractor Alfred Wilson.

“He is known for historic rehab, and there is no other person you really want to have on this,” Bill Greene said.

It’s not their first project together.

“We have a lot of shorthand,” Bill Greene said. “He knows when I am upset. He comes through and, like I said, the work quality you don’t argue with.”

With so much of the building’s history intact, the developers sought to save everything they could.

“Any walls we took out, we reused,” Wilson said. “Every stud went back into the building. All the wood trim on the original walls is authentic.”

Wilson explained that in addition to Historic Salisbury Foundation, an engineering feat just down the street also helped preserve the Bell Block Building.

“When the Grubb Building (now The Plaza) opened on the square, it was seven stories tall with elevators, electric lights and a bathroom in every suite. This building emptied out, and everybody moved there. This building never filled up again.”

The Bell Block Building’s construction, a decade before the Grubb Building, featured 19th-century amenities compared to its 20th-century counterpart.

“It was built in 1898, had gas lights and a single bathroom at the end of each hall,” Wilson said. “The reason that it is in the condition that it is and so well preserved is because it was obsolete eight years after it was built.

“For all practical purposes, it has sat vacant for 120 years.”

According to Mikkelson, the building’s old age has other benefits.

“I have personally enjoyed the lumber that comes out of this building because it’s 125 years old,” Mikkelson said. “I can put an old 2×4 on the table saw, cut it open, and smell the fresh pine. It’s denser than the wood you buy today. It’s got beautiful grain. It would have been old-growth lumber.”

While lumber contractors have found ways to expedite the growth process of trees, the Greenes weren’t cutting any corners.

“It’s a labor of love,” Bill Greene said. “We are in it and invested in the downtown. When you bring these old places back to life, the goal is to make it a productive place and a productive part of downtown. I know the city is happy. The tax bills go up. We have a brand new retail shop. All boats rise if you put a little effort into it.”

Cora Greene shared plans for a retail space that will occupy part of the first floor.

“I will have a glass shop on the corner,” Cora Greene said. “It’s going to be a glass art gallery studio, a working studio. We are going to focus heavily on classes. We are going to sell supplies. I am going to put a kiln in and have someone who can teach basic fusing. We’ll be teaching all kinds of stained glass and mosaics. Just having a lot of fun with glass art.”

The Thread Shed, which has been on the first floor for decades, will also remain in operation.

Bill Greene said that the third floor of the building is booked out and that the second floor would be ready to rent by the end of the month, with a final (seventh) apartment being completed on the first floor by August.

How did we get here?

While a passionate development team bolsters any project, it cannot run off of that alone.

“A lot of things have to come together to make something like this happen,” Greene said earlier this year. “It’s a big project. It takes capital and imagination.”

Greene has taken advantage of applicable tax credits that can be applied to projects such as his, and he also indicated that the city has been helpful in more ways than one.

“I’ll compliment the city,” Greene said. “For the last five years, the city has been very aggressive in putting incentives out because they know downtown living is working for many other communities. A lot of other communities have challenges doing that, so they have had a very focused incentive program.”

With any project, especially a historical one, there were challenges.

“I have seven units going in here,” Greene said. “Reality is, I probably needed nine or 10 units for all the costs. But where I lost them was the common area with the beautiful stairwell.”

He also said that splitting some of the apartments to get to that desired unit number would have compromised the quality of the apartments they were trying to create.

The city officially celebrated the building’s opening on Thursday with a formal ribbon cutting.

“The goal is to have it here for another 100 years,” Bill Greene said after the ceremony.