Where's Waldo (demolition)?

The decay was already bad at the turn of the century. It appears to have accelerated since then on the outside, and it’s bad inside, too.

Those who have wanted to save the Waldo have long talked about its history, and about how sturdy the structure was.

But revamping the Waldo at this point likely would cost tens of millions of dollars. After all, the structure has been susceptible to water damage — check out all the open/broken windows — along with sweltering hot and frigid temperatures, since there’s no HVAC running inside.

Freezing, thawing, heat expansion, water — not a good mix.

It’s undoubtedly going to cost a lot of money to tear down the Waldo. And it’s true that the area might just end up as parking spaces.

But the danger from falling materials is continuing to grow. And there’s always the possibility of a large-scale collapse, which would be bad news.

City Manager Tiffany Fell has shown her chops in her early time serving Clarksburg. Perhaps she and other leaders can find some funding that would help the city defray the cost. And maybe she and other leaders can find someone who’d be interested in repurposing the property in a meaningful way.

History can be great. But on the other hand, only one of the original Seven Wonders of the World is still standing. As good as the construction of the Waldo was, let’s not confuse it with the Pyramid of Giza (which also has a favorable climate on its side).

The chance to save the Waldo came and went a long time ago. Now it’s time for it to come down.

It’s also time for the City of Clarksburg to replace its sidewalks downtown.

The ornamental sidewalks were a pivotal part of the city’s streetscape project from earlier this century.

Unfortunately, the pavers that were laid as part of the concrete, along with the small stones inset in some of the sidewalks to give them a special flair, haven’t mixed well with winter weather.

The pavers have broken due to freezing, thawing, efforts to keep sidewalks clear of snow and ice, and everyday use.

Meanwhile, the small stones mixed in with the concrete look nice, but the uneven surface is an extra obstacle when it’s time to shovel off snow.

When city officials look to revamp downtown sidewalks, they should go with plain concrete. It’s beautiful in its own, simple way when done well.

It’s also easy to replace, which is a key factor. Any kind of ornamental sidewalk requires an exact match in patching and replacement, or it starts to look like a mess.

And simple concrete is better for clearing snow.

Anyone who believes it’s easy being a law enforcement officer hasn’t really thought about the job.

Every day comes with unique challenges. Some require split-second decisions of great consequence.

Good law enforcement agencies always have placed a high premium on training, ranging from spending plenty of time on the gun range to putting officers routinely through scenario-based exercises.

The latter has been tough until now, both in coming up with the scenarios and then finding people to participate in various roles.

The good news is there are breakthroughs on the way.

Not too long ago, Ohio University’s news service issued a release focused on the university’s efforts toward offering virtual reality simulations for police.

“The integration of this technology is going to change law enforcement across the world, but certainly in the United States,” says John Born, visiting assistant professor, executive in residence at the Scripps College of Communication and the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service.

Lebtown.com, a news service for Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, cited Lebanon County Sheriff Lt. Brad Seyfert regarding this arena.

“I believe virtual reality will dominate law enforcement training in the next 10 years,” Seyfert said during a two-day training session on a program administered by the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Sgt. Nicholas Derea, U.S. Army and Pennsylvania National Guardsman, said the training simulator has thousands of scenarios for officers to experience in the virtual world. And, within a given scenario, there are various ways for that situation to go.

“There are 50 different scenarios for drug training alone,” said Sgt. Nicholas Derea of the U.S. Army and Pennsylvania National Guard in an interview with Lebtown.com. “These various scenarios are done in a safe manner.”