CLINTON — It stands on the corner of Sixth Avenue South and Fourth Street — a nearly 125-year-old building that has seen better days.

Currently housing adminstration offices for the Clinton School District, this structure — the Roosevelt Administration Center — also over the years has housed high school and elementary school classes.

But along with its history, it also is now known for the bats that use its top floor as their home. Those keenly familiar with the building speak of the sewer-like smell that — as one person has put it — emanates from “the deepest bowels of the building.”

And then the state earlier this year told Clinton School District Superintendent Deb Olson that unless changes were made to make Roosevelt handicapped accessible, the district offices would have to move. Knowing it would be cost prohibitive to make those changes, Olson looked at other options, with the board settling on renovating and moving the offices into the former Harding Elementary School that was closed to students in 2003 and was being considered as a new home for the Clinton Public Library until voters last fall gave a thumbs down to that proposal. In the meantime, it had been used for YMCA programs, which now are in place at their new home as part of the YWCA of Clinton.

The district will spend $1.3 million on Harding  — on Monday the board accepted a bid from Estes Construction to begin renovating it and have it completed by June 1, 2012.

The chain of events is leading people to ask: What to do with Roosevelt?

Well, if Clinton resident Mike Kearney has his way, the building would be designated as a historical landmark.

Kearney, also a city councilman, is the manager of the Van Allen building, Howes building and Armstrong building, all downtown Clinton structures that have historical significance. They were preserved and turned into first-floor retail space with housing on the upper levels. The three buildings are owned by limited partnerships; Community Housing Initiatives is the managing partner of each one. They are great examples of successful preservation, so we understand why Kearney would want to see Roosevelt saved.

However, we don’t agree that it should be.

Our reason? Well, just take a look at the former Clinton post office. A hulking structure on the corner of South Third Street and Fifth Avenue, it is deteriorating. Apparently the money isn’t available to preserve it. Covenants on the building because of its historic designation limit what can be done to it, we understand.

And that is exactly our fear with Roosevelt.

See, we have no question that it would be named a historical property. But then what?

What would it — what could it — be used for?

How will the work be funded?

If the state says it’s not useable as a place for business offices because it is not handicapped accessible and the district is willing to spend $1.3 million to renovate and move to a new place, it’s probably a safe bet to assume that the cost to renovate Roosevelt would be greater than $1.3 million.

Kearney told the school board that there are funding sources out there to help pay for it.

That is probably the case — to some degree anyway. But let’s face it, anytime someone talks about a new group, program or project, often the announcement is followed by the intention to seek grants to pay for it. There’s only so much to go around and everyone these days is looking for some share of the pots that are out there.

Even if some comes in, would it be enough to shore the building up so that it has a viable use?

It’s a huge risk to take.

We asked readers of our website to answer a poll question on the issue a few months back. They specifically were asked “What should be done with the Roosevelt Administration Center building after school district offices move out of it?”

Of the 1,290 responses, 636 said that tearing it down for safety reasons is the way to go. Next were 359 responses to sell it for possible renovation and reuse. The remaining 295 said to preserve and keep it as close to historically accurate as possible.

We agree with the largest batch of responses.

We’re not saying it isn’t noble to preserve the past, but there comes a time when a property may be past the point of no return.

We believe Roosevelt is an example of such a situation. We are urging the school board, while it has OK’d starting the process of getting paperwork in place seeking that designation, to not pursue it any further.  If someone wants to save it, and has the money to invest in it for a planned outcome, that would be a different situation and we would hope the school district would take them up on that offer. But if not, we would hope the district takes it down so that it doesn’t become a liability issue.

There is no fault in having a dream, but having a plan is the responsible way of fulfilling it.

In the end, we don’t want to have all of Clinton’s taxpayers being held hostage to a small group’s — or even one person’s — vision.