In the past week, The Clanton Advertiser has featured two stories about municipalities cleaning up their communities.

Thorsby’s Historic Preservation Committee is working to restore a portion of the former Thorsby Elementary School into, officials hope, a new recreation center. That’s an admirable goal for the building — preserving the past and its history while finding a current use for the space.

The old lunchroom in Thorsby has historical value and should be saved, but sometimes old buildings have no real importance and even become safe havens for drugs and other criminal activity.

Last week, Jemison tore down a house on Old Mars Hill Road that violated the city’s ordinances. Likewise, the city of Clanton has demolished several abandoned houses through the years.

These kinds of structures hurt all of our property values and are a public nuisance. We hope the municipalities will continue to follow Thorsby’s lead to preserve buildings important to our community, and continue to tear down the ones that are a danger to our community.