With crumbling facades – and a fallen building – some of the structures in downtown Selma have deteriorated in the past year.

But others of these historic buildings are for sale or are being used for storage. Either way, they remain vacant, and some are in a state of disrepair.

The Downtown Selma Association-Main Street Project is working to assist potential business owners in locating downtown.

And, there’s some good news on that front.

Work is underway at the Teppers Building, as the Freedom Foundation plans a multi-use facility at that site.

Plans are also underway for the building at the corner of Broad Street and Water Avenue, which will be occupied by the National Park Service as the

Selma Interpretive Center.

The corner building at Water Avenue and Franklin Street, occupied by Adler Furniture, recently underwent an exterior paint job.

But, there is more work to do. Less than a foot away from the fresh paint of Adler Furniture, broken bricks give way to a vacant lot with trees grown up in it.

Across the vacant lot is where another building caved in, causing a portion of Water Avenue to be blocked off until it was cleaned up.

There are city ordinances requiring commercial properties to be kept in good repair.

While finding buyers and occupants for available properties is important, so is enforcing those codes.