Five area communities are taking advantage of a state grant program to properly deal with some rundown buildings and environmental problems.

Clarion received $69,923 to help pay for deconstructing an abandoned building on Iowa Highway 3. Instead of bulldozing the place and dumping all the rubble in a landfill, contractors will actually take it apart and any usable materials will be saved for reuse.

Manson received $34,975 to remove asbestos at 1012 Main St., the former site of Foley Clothing Co.

Rockwell City received $25,187 to help pay for renovating a building on the city square that longtime residents will remember as the site of Joe’s Candy Kitchen.

Humboldt received $14,300 to remove asbestos from the old post office.

Lake City received $5,000 for removing asbestos from a building that once housed a car dealership.

All of that money came from the Derelict Building Grant Program operated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

It’s an innovative program that uses relatively small amounts of money to help communities deal with building problems that they probably cannot afford to handle on their own. Removing hazardous asbestos is always a costly process, and Humboldt, Lake City and Manson are getting the help they need to do it properly.

The money going to Clarion will help to keep at least some material out of the landfill. And the grant to Rockwell City will help keep a 1920s vintage building standing.

We salute the local leaders and property owners who worked together to launch these beneficial grant-funded projects.