Too Much, Too Late

Recently I read a Facebook post on a local page showing old downtown buildings being torn down to make room for our mall. It sparked the same conversation I see over and over again – people saying how sad it was that those beautiful historic buildings were demolished, it never should have happened, and building the mall there was a huge mistake.

I understand that feeling. I would love for those buildings to still be standing today too. But I think people often forget one very important fact.

By the time many of those buildings were torn down in the mid-1980s, they were already in terrible condition. Many sat vacant for years. Some were condemned, some were rat-infested, and many owners either couldn’t afford to restore them or simply chose not to. Our downtown was struggling and scary, and it looked it.

It’s easy to look back with nostalgia, but we have to remember what life was actually like then. It was the 1980s, and malls were thriving all across America. When ours opened, it was packed. It brought people back downtown and gave the area new life at a time when it desperately needed it.

Of course, I wish those historic buildings could have been saved. But for many of them, that simply wasn’t a realistic option by that point. Without investment, our downtown would have continued to decline.

There’s another lesson we should take from that story.

Today, we still have beautiful historic buildings throughout Mason City. Some have been lovingly restored, but others are sitting empty and slowly deteriorating. Restoring an old building takes an incredible amount of time, money, and dedication. It isn’t easy. But the longer a building sits unused, the faster it falls apart.

Instead of spending so much time wishing we could change decisions that were made 40 years ago, I’d love to see more of that energy focused on preserving the historic buildings we still have. Because if we don’t, history will repeat itself. Years from now, people will be asking why those buildings were torn down too, forgetting just how neglected they had become before it happened.

We can’t change the past, but we can help shape the future. The best way to honor our history is by saving the buildings that are still standing today – before it’s too late.