SAND SPRINGS, Okla. (AP) — Architect Ken Alexander put his faith behind a vision and purchased the historic Sand Springs Powerhouse in 2010.

"My fascination, whether it was a sickness from architecture or something else, was that I wanted to save the building," he says.

So he went about doing just that.

Alexander sank years into framing a restaurant, brewery and event center concept to jazz up the sprawling 31,759-square-foot space built in 1911.

"We felt like everything was falling into place. In the end, it just wasn't," Alexander, whose property recently was marketed for sale by CBRE, told...