Coeur d’Alene values its past.

That’s why the Museum of North Idaho was able to raise enough money to save the J.C. White House and move it to McEuen Park near City Hall. 

That's why so many signed an online petition when the Roosevelt Inn was threatened with being demolished before its new owners, who have plans to develop the property, agreed to spare it. 

That’s why the City Council last year approved a new section in the Historic Preservation Code creating a demolition review process for historic residential and commercial structures built before 1960.  

That's why so many came out to witness the last stand of the Johnston Building this week as it underwent the power of the wrecking ball.

This is town that recognizes when it’s time for change and embraces progress but also holds on to the history that helped define it and make it what it is today. 

And that’s why we are delighted that two magnificent vault doors were saved from the Johnston Building in downtown Coeur d’Alene that is being demolished this week to make way for Sherman Tower, a 15-story project by the Hagadone Corp. 

Those doors could have easily gone to the scrapyard, if not for the efforts of people like Walter Burns, chairman of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission; John Swallow, who last year was presented with the Heart of History award by the city of Coeur d’Alene and its Historic Preservation Commission; as well as the cooperation of the Hagadone Corp. and Elder Demolition LLC. 

It took a colossal effort, with Elder’s crane needed to hoist the 2,500-pound doors from the building on Wednesday. 

What will come of them hasn’t been determined. For now, they’ll be stored safely away. Perhaps, as Burns said, they will someday be displayed at the Museum of North Idaho. 

We hope so. Those doors mattered. 

They mattered because they are reminiscent of a time in Coeur d’Alene, when it was a small town still finding its way. The Johnston Building went up in 1905 and was home to the Coeur d’Alene Bank and Trust Company, which was a key player in this town’s early days. 

As the decades passed, the building’s interior was remodeled and renovated. As Burns and Swallow said, it was not what it once was. The building itself could not be saved. But the vault doors, as expected, stood the test of time. Not much to change there. Rock solid, they are. And it sounds like they will continue to stand the test of time. 

Someday, perhaps decades or even more in the future, history will judge us for how well we honored those who came before us. Did we respect what they did and who they were? Did we treat well what they created? Did we make it better?

We believe the answer is yes. The Coeur d’Alene of today will be looked upon well by those who call it home tomorrow.