Cary is giving a $10,000 grant to help fund efforts to restore this 160-year-old building downtown to its original facade. Michelle Meyer/Shaw Local News Network

The new owner of a 160-year-old structure in downtown Cary that’s now an apartment building is looking to restore the exterior to its original state with the help of a $10,000 grant from the village.

The Cary Street Apartment building, 109 Cary St., was built circa 1865 and served as the Freeman Boarding House in the early 1900s, housing workers during construction of railroad lines and gravel mines in the area.

“This is one of the oldest properties in the city of Cary, and one of the oldest surviving structures,” property owner Nick Prager said.

Prager wants to restore the historical facade by adding a wrap-around porch, new

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