The building on the corner of Fourth and Center streets has had many incarnations.

It has housed entities that include army goods, bargain and variety stores, auto parts and a law practice since 1922

But on Feb. 20 the county’s building inspector declared the structure unsafe writing a letter to that effect to its owners.

“The masonry is unsafe and the interior is open to weather,” the inspector’s letter stated. “Structures that are unsafe or are otherwise dangerous to human life shall be deemed a serious hazard. Where a building is found to be a serious hazard, such hazard shall be eliminated or the building shall be vacated and where such building, when vacated, remains a serious hazard, it shall be razed.”

The day that letter went out city officials said barricades went up immediately. And for a while they did, if they can be called that. Yellow crime scene tape on the Fourth Street side and a small cord on the Center side, but those didn’t stay up too long.

We all know how hard and how long it takes to raze a blighted or unsafe structure. Memorial Hall is a superb example. That may be because of red tape or officials putting it on a back burner.

But that doesn’t excuse at least making the public safe by erecting genuine barricades, not a string that makes a clothes line look like a bungee cord.

Maybe Ironton residents know not to walk there, but others may not. If the building is unsafe, the top priority should always be on the safety of the people until the building can be removed.