Jamestown Community College officials seem to be on the right track by turning down a chance to further expand into the north county and then in selling the former School 7 building adjacent to its Jamestown campus.

It’s a bit of practicality that more local officials should be showing.

Participation in Dunkirk’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative was a head-scratcher given the presence of the State University at Fredonia a short distance away from JCC’s proposed Workforce Training Center on Graf Avenue, Dunkirk. JCC President Daniel DeMarte said the move would have come with additional costs, something college officials had said was a deal-breaker, while the college was also looking for local business support, adequate available transportation and childcare, an enrollment target, and additional external funding. Enough of those criteria weren’t met that the college walked away. Instead, JCC officials may sell off some of the Graf Avenue assets while exploring more shared opportunities with SUNY Fredonia and outreach from its existing JCC North operation.

Unloading the JCC Annex, formerly School 7 on Second Street, Jamestown, is another decision that makes sense. The building needs enough work that it doesn’t fit the college’s plans and the state won’t let it be torn down. Keeping the building is a sunk cost that isn’t helping JCC meet its educational mission.

In both cases JCC is making smart decisions. Expansion sounds good on paper, but it’s risky. JCC isn’t in a position at this point to take several risks at the same time. A North County expansion at the same time as a large building project on the Jamestown campus as the college partners with the Jamestown YMCA is a lot to take on at one time. Trying to shoehorn a project into the annex building simply to make use of the building is also not a good use of the college’s limited assets right now. It’s better to sell the building, particularly to a potential partner.

It’s disappointing for Dunkirk to lose a DRI project. But we’re not sure how much sense JCC’s north county project made in the first place – and it’s better to move on before spending a chunk of important public money on a project that wasn’t guaranteed to be a success.