Watching the old Bella Vista Restaurant over the past five years or so has been difficult.
While the love of the vitality that was once a landmark building and restaurant is still in our memories, the reality of the Bella Vista is of a broken down firetrap.
The folks at the Turquoise Preservation Trust have been saying for years that the building needed to be torn down. Now Bernalillo County is getting involved, filing a court action to get the owners of the building, Bella Vista Partners LLC, to do something about the nuisance the building has become.
The county's Zoning, Building and Planning Department, however, says the owners have been making an effort to demolish the building and have been hampered by environmental concerns.
What it all comes down to is that the building will soon be torn down and its pieces hauled away. This is good news for the Turquoise Trail and for the people who live in Cedar Crest.
Yes, the Bella Vista was a great place to get fried fish and chicken, but those days are long gone and it is finally time to move on.