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On June 26 the Milford Historical Society selected a Milford building for its annual
Building Preservation/Restoration Award. The aim of this award is to recognize quality
preservation or restoration of historic buildings in the Milford area, and to encourage
the undertaking of such projects. The Historical Society committee, made up of Judith Reiter, Sue Gumpper, Jay Qualman, Will Young and Barbara Young, selected six buildings, five houses and one store, for consideration this year. The requirements for nomination were: The building must be 50 or more years old and it must be in Milford Township (includes Milford Village). Only the exteriors were judged. |
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The judges are always persons from outside the village or township who are experienced
and knowledgeable about historic preservation and restoration. They used the Guidelines
for Restoration and Preservation of Historic Properties put out by the Secretary
of the Interior's Office in Washington, D.C. This year’s judges were Ellen Thackery
of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network and Diane Tuinstra of the State Historic
Preservation Office in Lansing. The building selected for the award this year is the double store at 414 N. Main.
The south half was built in 1872 by the Thornhill Brothers and was rented for a number
of businesses through the years. The cornice and window caps were of galvanized iron
and were the first of that material to be used in Milford. The north half was built
in 1875 by the Austin Brothers and used for their grocery store. |
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The two stores were combined and used for many years by the D & C Store, and later by the Next Generation Children’s Store. The Clothing Cove recently moved their business into the double store after doing extensive restoration to the buildings.
The judges commended the restorers for the cornice replacement based on historic
photos, for retaining the outstanding window caps and for opening up the storefront
to look more like its original incarnation.
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