“We’re excited,” said Karl Eberhard, historic preservation officer for the city of Flagstaff. “We’ve been working on getting these properties cleaned up and restored for about eight years, and it’s really become a focus of council over the last year or two.”

He said the city will work with the new owner on parking, which would ordinarily be required in such use changes. Any additional parking would have to damage the historical property, Eberhard said, and that is not what the city wants. Eberhard added that they could even potentially help them out with a small grant from a historic facades and signs program.

“So far, we’re all very encouraged,” he said. “The buyers have certainly said all the right things and are headed in the right direction. We’ve met with them several times and we look forward to it.”

The alternative is not one the city wants.

CLOSE TO DESTROYED

The current owner, Tim Martinez of Phoenix, said if things don’t work out with the sale, he’ll have to demolish the building. And Eberhard said the city knows how close the Tourist Home already came to being torn down. A cultural preservation study was done in November as a first step toward tearing it down.