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Kimberli Fitzgerald took a trip nearly 50 years into the past by simply walking through a door. First, however, she had to climb a rickety old ladder to the roof of the building behind Key Bank at 440 State St. in Salem. From there, she found the door to a room that had been sealed off since the Johnson administration.

鈥淚t was like a time capsule,鈥� said Fitzgerald, senior historic planner for the city of Salem. 鈥淚t was completely sealed off. There was even a newspaper from, like, 1967 still sitting on the table.鈥�

Fitzgerald would have used the stairs from the street, but they were walled off at about the time the newspaper was printed.

Now city and state officials are working with the owner of the building to restore it. The building has housed several Chinese restaurant businesses, though it is probably remembered most as the Gray Belle restaurant. It was likely built in the 1890s, but that is by no means certain.

鈥淭hat’s part of the fun, finding out exactly when it was built,鈥� Fitzgerald said.

Robert Kraft of Kraft Custom Construction in Salem said he is getting a kick out of restoring the building.

鈥淭here’s some sleuthing to be done, some design puzzles to be solved and, most importantly, a very nice building to be brought back to its core structure,鈥� he said.

The city of Salem received a $20,000 Diamond in the Rough grant from the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office for the project. City officials matched that amount with their own Downtown Toolbox grant.

鈥淭he first phase was removing what we affectionately called the cheese grater,鈥� Kraft said in reference to metal grating that was slapped on the building in the 1960s. 鈥淭here was less respect for the historic nature of the building and more importance placed on modernization.鈥�

However, the old cheese grater wasn’t all bad, he added.

鈥淎side from the aesthetic problem with what was installed in the ’60s, it actually helped the building in the long run.鈥�

The second phase included shoring up the basic structure. Both phases took about four weeks, Kraft said.

鈥淲e had to start and stop, owing to the nature of the work because we didn’t know what was underneath,鈥� he added.

Now city officials and building owner Joann Chen have some decisions to make.

鈥淭he next phase will be bringing the building back to one of two original states,鈥� Kraft said.

The building can be either returned to its appearance in the ’30s and ’40s before the cheese grater and other 鈥渕odern鈥� additions, or returned to its roots in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Kraft, who specializes in remodels and historic restorations, calls the project 鈥渦n-urban development鈥� 鈥� restoration of past charm lost in a headlong rush into the future.

The last business to occupy the building was the Rainbow, a Chinese restaurant that closed in February. Fitzgerald and co-worker Todd Klocke of Salem’s Urban Development Department came across the building a few months back when they set out to find some of the city’s forgotten historic structures.

鈥淭he goal was (to) find the worst building,鈥� Fitzgerald said. 鈥淚 hate to say that, but we were looking for the building that would benefit the most from what we call a crowbar renovation.鈥�

In other words, they were looking for buildings that needed a lot of work.

鈥淭his particular project is amazing,鈥� said Kuri Gill, grant and outreach coordinator for the State Historic Preservation Office.

She added that it is a magnificent example of how city and state officials can work with individual business owners to restore historic core areas.

鈥淪alem has long had a commitment to historic preservation, going back to the 1970s and projects like Mission Mill Museum,鈥� Gill said.

There is a particular excitement in her office these days, Fitzgerald said.

The old restaurant on State Street is the latest in a line of projects that have restored historic buildings and helped preserve the city’s heritage. Fitzgerald credits changes in the city’s rules for historic preservation. City codes used to lean heavily toward punishment for violators, she said.

鈥淭here were not a lot of happy campers,鈥� she added.

When Fitzgerald arrived as the historic planner in 2009, she wanted to see more incentives than punishments. The code was revised a year later.

It has proven successful, Fitzgerald said, even serving as a model for Portland’s Irvington neighborhood, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

Basically, she said, the code is more flexible. People who live in historic homes formerly had a hard time so much as renovating their kitchens. The new code enables people to make changes provided they are out of public view.

Fitzgerald also worked to remedy the problem of people buying homes and not knowing they are historic. Now when a prospective buyer receives a history of liens against a property from a title company, he or she is notified whether the property is historic.

The city also started giving Toolbox money in the form of small grants 鈥� about $1,000 or so 鈥� to homeowners who want to restore their homes’ exteriors. The city provided $20,000 in grants to help Deepwood Estates trustees repair the historic home’s foundation.

鈥淲e have a wonderful relationship with the city,鈥� said Lois Cole, executive director of Friends of Deepwood.

The group oversees the Victorian estate, which was built in 1894. Cole said city officials have been helpful, and supervised recent reconstruction of the tennis court.

City officials are supposed to be helpful, Fitzgerald said.

鈥淲e can’t work in a vacuum,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e don’t want to be that ogre with a stick.鈥�