Ownership of three parcels at 8, 10 and 12 East Second Street, including a building that has been a vacant eyesore for nearly two decades, has been transferred to the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency.

It’s a good move, in our opinion. The private market hasn’t resulted in any sort of change for more years than we care to count, resulting in a depressing dollop of disinvestment next to the renovated Fenton Building, which now houses the Chop House on Main.

City officials say intervention is needed to prevent the building from further deteriorating and meeting the fate of its neighbor, which was torn down after it was deemed unsafe. The Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency will work as a new middleman to market the properties to a new owner in hopes of finally redeveloping the building.

The city should take action on this property. It’s been an eyesore long enough. The Fenton Building renovation sparked activity on Main Street between Second Street and the railroad viaduct, but the redevelopment efforts haven’t spread next door. We have no doubt the building is going to be an expensive one to remodel, but its location on a key plot downtown makes it worthy of the city’s attention.

The real problem, as we’ve noted in the past, is that we still struggle to attract developers with deep pockets who can secure financing easily for these types of projects. For every Ramsey Agriculture, which is taking a decades-vacant building on Winsor Street and finally breathing new life into it, there are parcels like these Second Street parcels that have less of a future than a 1935 Studebaker with holes in the floorboards and a cardboard box where the engine used to be after sitting in a garage for 60 years. Sure, it can be restored. But it’s a heavier lift than just buying a new car.

Too many Jamestown buildings are the 1935 Studebaker. They were stylish and functional when they were built. But we’ve missed the window where they can be restored with a coat of paint and a tuneup. We’re looking now at a total rebuild – and unfortunately that is the story with too many buildings in Jamestown.