Who could blame the city council for not rushing into buying or building a new city hall?

Council members and city staff will be criticized no matter what they do or don’t do in regards to securing more space in which to conduct the public’s business.

Buy, build, expand? Does Minot even warrant a bigger city hall? One can only imagine the negative comments that will be thrown council’s way as the best path forward becomes more clear.

But forge ahead they have and they are to be applauded for that.

The two properties being talked about are the former Wells Fargo building and the former Midwest Federal Savings and Loan building, known as the Big M building.

As we reported, having narrowed the possible sites for a new city hall to two, council last Monday hit pause to allow more time to consider its options before pursuing a potential purchase.

Wise move for a couple of reasons. Most obvious is the cost and current condition of the buildings. Taking a long, hard look at each of these buildings is worth dragging out the selection process a bit longer.

In a best case scenario, each building will take millions to renovate. But would the layout of either be suitable for a city hall in the end? We’ll need to be convinced of that.

The upside to all this is that two vital downtown assets, one, the former Midwest Federal building being a landmark, a touchstone, are getting serious consideration from the city fathers.

That has to go a long ways with private potential investors also looking for substantial property downtown. Downtown needs both of these buildings fully occupied.