Preservationists and lovers of fine architecture and history should take a lesson from Rob Shaffer, owner of the Citizens National Bank building on Fourth Street, which he is seeking permission to demolish after a decade of hoping a buyer would help him save the building he meant to rehabilitate, himself.

“It’s like waiting ’til the funeral and then saying ‘Let’s give this guy CPR,'” he said, of the recent petition to ask the Central Downtown Business District Design and Facade Committee to reject Shaffer’s request.

It takes more than good intention to save a building, no matter how beautiful or historic. Shaffer has owned it for 20 years, and for the last ten of that, he has had it up for sale, as he realized how much work it needed and how expensive that work would be. Most Wood County residents have driven past that “For sale” sign hundreds of times.

“Nobody’s done anything,” he said.

Rehabbing the building is not just an aesthetic matter. There are safety concerns, too; as pieces of the exterior have come loose and fallen over time.

Even Wood County Historical and Preservation Society President Bob Enoch says he understands that after trying to get the job done with no one offering to step in to help, Shaffer “has to do something.” It seems as though that something is to raze the building for a potential buyer of the property. It is very likely too late, for that particular historic building. And there are others downtown, that, if folks are being honest, should also be torn down, as they are eyesores and safety hazards.

But there are plenty that need not make it to the CPR-at-the-funeral stage, if those who truly desire to preserve our historic downtown are willing to heed the words of people like Enoch and Shaffer.

“We would like to see it saved, but it’s got to have a purpose,” Enoch said of the Citizens National Bank building. I don’t want people to go in there and say, ‘Let’s save this building’ and forget about it.”

Money and energy to preserve historic buildings does not simply materialize. It takes years and years of the kind of effort we see appear in small bursts such as the one that resulted in this petition. Those who are as passionate about it as their social media rhetoric indicates should take a look downtown (and throughout Wood County) at other buildings bearing “For sale” signs, or showing symptoms of neglect and find out what they can do to jump into the process — to truly help — a little earlier.

It is a worthy cause, and one that will take an immense amount of work; but one that, if championed correctly, will yield tremendous benefit for downtown Parkersburg and its residents.