Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Funeral Home, Mental Hospital Among Old Buildings Transformed into Trendy
Apartments

Dora Mekouar

   Would you like to live in an old funeral home? How about a former
   asylum for the insane, subway terminal, movie theater or stadium?

   These properties, along with abandoned factories, schools, courthouses,
   churches, warehouses, malls and military installations have been mostly
   saved from demolition and transformed into apartment complexes.

   "They were just magnificent buildings,and rather than have them be torn
   down and just create a square concrete structure, the idea was to
   utilize some of the tax credit laws that were in existence at the time
   and to create these great living spaces," says Lynn Butts, marketing
   coordinator at a former chocolate factory-turned-residential complex in
   Philadelphia.

.