Refurbishing

I was walking around downtown Victoria today and decided to get an higher view of the city. Victoria is mostly a short city, with most buildings under 5 stories, though in the last few years many large condo buildings have marred the skyline. The skyline is changing so quickly in the last few years, that getting off the ground always provides an interesting view. In the older section of downtown, we have a few streets of very old buildings that have been sitting vacant for years. They were built in the late 1800's with stores on the ground floor and large apartments above. A few years ago it was determined that these buildings were no longer in compliance with the earthquake code and were emptied out. The buildings were left to deteriorate (they are heritage structures and cannot be demolished) until someone finally found enough money to gut and refurbish the buildings. On lower Yates Street they are working on the last building. It is exciting to see them refurbishing the old buildings instead of tearing them down and putting up monstrosities. I am hoping to get a look inside once they are finished.