The recent unveiling of the new gym floor at the Valley Community Center is proof that the city is dedicated to fixing things up.

“They did a really good job,” Valley Mayor Leonard Riley told The Valley Times-News. “It looks good.”

The work, which included sanding the old floor down to the concrete, repairing all cracks and areas where the concrete had chipped and leveling the floor outlets, has made the gym look practically brand new.

Built back in 2002 at an approximate cost of $6 million, the center has been host to a number of events and the city more than got its money worth out of it.

This new floors will likely make a good impression at this year’s State Masters Games, which will be hosted in the Community Center. An estimated 500 people in the 55 and older age group will be there.

A lot has been said in recent months about the tearing down of a number of historical structure, including a gym. Those with fond memories of the buildings have lamented the loss while at the same time wondering why they could not be fixed up.

Unfortunately in this day and age, an empty and sometimes crumbling building can cost more to keep than one in active use.

Simple math shows that the city of Valley gets more out of fixing up a structure that is relatively new than one that has been empty for years.

With a little less than four years to go before hitting its 20-year anniversary, the money was well spent on updating the community center.