Preserving a piece of history is a feeling like no other.

It’s often something that one can look back on in amazement and know where a certain object or structure stands. Sports fans often do it with memorabilia such as gloves, jerseys, spikes, helmets or sports cards while hobbyists preserve anything from vinyl records to art.

Just recently, this newspaper has seen the preservation of Mahoning Valley history on a slightly bigger scale. With the grand history this area has, that’s how it should be.

Toward the end of December, Gordon Logan, founder and CEO of Sports Clips hair salons and an avid Packard enthusiast, donated his replica of the boattail speedster that Packard Motor Car Co. engineer Jesse Vincent built in 1929 to test his latest engine designs and modifications.

Around the same time as Logan’s donation, the Trumbull Historical Society acquired a space in Warren that will be the home of a science-fiction museum. It will house and preserve about 500 movie props that were created by Warren native John Zabrucky and his company Modern Props. Zabrucky’s creations appeared in hundreds of science-fiction films, television series and commercials. Just more pieces of area history preserved.

This past weekend, this newspaper highlighted another piece of Mahoning Valley history being saved as Dominic L. Gatta, president of the Gatta Construction Co. and a Niles resident, walked through trash and debris at the Masonic Temple at 22 W. Church St. in Niles.

The building has sat empty for several years, but Gatta has plans to rehabilitate the historic building that was completed in 1923. He purchased it at a sheriff’s sale earlier this year for $40,700, according to the Trumbull County auditor’s website.

Bravo!

In 2006, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate and protect America’s historic and archaeological resources. It was also one of a few remaining buildings in historic downtown Niles that was built during the early 20th century.

While Gatta’s project is in the very beginning stages, he has demonstrated a vision that more residents should display. He sees potential in something that may be past its time but has proved valuable to its community and deserves restoration.

“You have original terrazzo floors and the concrete structure. Everything is sound,” Gatta told our reporter.

Just down the street is another historic Niles building that unfortunately wasn’t able to be saved. Over the past few weeks, the demolition of the Niles Theatre has been ongoing. It’s a building that this newspaper would have liked to see stay standing. But, unlike the Masonic Temple, there was no private backing or vision to save it.

If that were the case, Niles Mayor Steve Mientkiewicz said he would have stopped the demolition immediately, which is what we like to hear.

As much as this newspaper looks forward to development and expansion, the essence of the Mahoning Valley is evident in its history, and it’s something that we’d like to see stick around when possible.