FAIRBANKS — With work starting on the $2 million storage building for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the time is right to restore and open the historic Creamer’s Dairy buildings to the public.

The governor and local legislators should recognize the opportunity and see that salvaging the state-owned barns is worthwhile.

The alternative is to allow the landmark structures to become more rundown.

I’ve been told that there are state officials in Juneau who would rather burn the buildings down than do anything to save them.

The folks in Juneau don’t see the state-owned buildings as part of the fish and game mission, an attitude that won’t change without a stronger response by elected officials and the community.

A small volunteer group, the Friends of Creamer’s Field, has long maintained that moving fish and game’s equipment from the buildings and fields is a necessary first step to opening the doors of the barns to the public.

The group made that case in 2008 when the money was approved for the storage site.

“As soon as ADFG is able to vacate the historic dairy buildings, we can move forward to open the buildings for public enjoyment, education and historical interpretation,” the friends group said in a letter to the House Finance Committee three years ago.

The governor and Legislature can either agree that we are going to find a way to restore and open the barns or that the buildings will die of neglect.

Treating them like abandoned buildings is tantamount to deciding that the buildings aren’t long for this world.

The Friends of Creamer’s Field, which relies on donations, has had a petition drive asking that the barns be renovated and opened. This is not a small project and they need more friends, both in the community and in Juneau.

This would be a good time to dust off that petition and get it in circulation.

The large barn is like a rough-hewn cathedral inside and there are many ways in which it might become a valuable asset.

What is needed is a private-public partnership similar to that which created the Creamer’s Refuge in the first place more than 40 years ago.

The petition urges “our leaders and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to open the Creamer’s Field Dairy barns to the public and to work with the community-based nonprofit Friends of Creamer’s Field to make these historic structures accessible and usable.”

This is a worthwhile goal.

For more information, contact the Friends of Creamer’s Field at 452-5162. The group has a committee working on this project and it could use more volunteers. The website is creamersfield.org.

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FLUORIDE GONE: The last of the fluoride added to the Golden Heart Utilities system should be out of the system by now, the utility says. The fluoride hopper was empty as of Wednesday and it probably took a couple of days before the water no longer contained the additive.

With the removal of fluoride, the “pH” level of the water will increase somewhat, just slightly above the recommended levels suggested by the federal government. The normal range is 6.5 to 8.5, but the pH is expected to be about 8.55 without added fluoride, she said.

That means the water would be slightly more alkaline than recommended. The pH standard is not a requirement.

Tiffany Van Horn, director of administration for Golden Heart, said the company does not expect that consumers will notice any change in the water as the pH will be barely above the recommended range. The company is not required to make any changes to reduce the pH level, but it will wait and see before deciding if additional processing is needed.

Dermot Cole can be reached at cole@newsminer.com or 459-7530.