The area around Cline Falls Power Plant should be returned to a more natural state.

Not everything should be preserved.

Not every old building should be saved.

For a building or a site to get a designation as a historic site, it has to be special.

There must be a way to pay to preserve it.

There should also be a way to make the history useful, so that future generations are able to get a historic benefit and don’t just get saddled with a legacy cost and responsibility.

The Deschutes County Commission has been wrestling with the old power plant site. It’s on the Deschutes River and previously provided hydroelectric power. It is a collection of old buildings, built between 1907 and 1912. The Deschutes County Commission designated the site as historic in 1992. Central Oregon Irrigation District owns the land.

But when PacificCorp ended its 100-year lease on the site in February, the question arose about what on the site was historic. The company has removed everything it wanted from the site — some power-generating equipment. And now the commission is considering just how much of the site still deserves to be designated as historic.

What’s best for that property?

PacifiCorp should be able take what it wants. We’d like to see all the buildings and materials removed. The goal should be to restore the area to a more natural setting.

That will likely include some environmental cleanup. After some analysis, PacifiCorp has identified about 7.5 cubic yards of contaminated soil that should be removed.

But beyond that restoration, if there are those who want to preserve the history of the site’s role in producing hydropower, they should come up with a means to pay for it.

Neither PacifiCorp nor COID should be required to pay to preserve the site’s history. County taxpayers shouldn’t be required to, either.