OPINION — Having known Ashley Harder for many years, one of the things that first connected us was a shared passion for historic preservation.
I noticed Ashley’s work when she completed an early redevelopment project in the F.Q. Story Historic Neighborhood. What impressed me was the way she approached adaptive reuse: respecting the character of an existing building while giving it a new purpose.
That may sound simple, but anyone who has spent time working in historic preservation knows it is not. Phoenix is growing rapidly and the challenge is not choosing between growth and preservation. It's finding ways to accommodate change while protecting the neighborhoods, buildings and character that make our city unique.
