COVINGTON, Ky. — A three-story building, once filled with life, sits abandoned building at 1515 Madison Avenue in Covington.

The city purchased this building back in 2016, and since then no one has used or occupied it.

“It’s sat vacant for about six or seven years now,” Tom West, the city’s economic development director, said.

That’s going to change in the next year, however, as the Covington Academy of Heritage Trades will begin using it as a workshop. The idea is for those training with the Academy to get hands-on experience while working on the restoration. It’s a notable approach because the city has many historic buildings.

“Covington has one of the largest collections of historic buildings per capita in the commonwealth, and this is a great way to increase the number of craftspeople who are qualified to work on those buildings,” West said.

A deal with the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky (BIA) will allow for this to happen. Currently, the city has ownership of the property, but only to make sure the grass is cut and to keep it boarded up.

As for its physical condition, the porch may be dangerous to walk on, but West said it’s got good bones.

“Structurally, it’s a very sound building. The woodwork inside is intact, pocket doors that still work. So there are a lot of tremendous aspects to this building, but some of the things more subject to weather have been neglected over the years,” he said.

West said this work could take four to seven years. But once finished, the building could serve more purpose beyond teaching. The goal is to transfer ownership one day to the BIA so it can sell the building.

“Our hope is that it will become an office building and they can sell it and put the money back into the academy for the continuation of that school,” he said.