It’s been a long time coming, more than three months to be extact. The downtown fire that ravaged several Main Street businesses broke out Jan. 15 and left a big eyesore in the middle of Austin.

On Monday, crews arrived on site of one of the buildings, the former Top Ten Nails location, to begin cleanup.

Top Ten Nails owner Sam Nguyen is cleaning up his property at his expense, and hopefully this move will encourage the rest of the cleanup to be done quickly as well.

The city has already declared the Mi Tierra businesses, the properties at 400-406 North Main St., a public nuisance and health hazard.

No action was taken after Mi Tierra owner Maria Leon was given notice the area must be cleaned up.

Now it’s in the city’s hands, which is required to advertise for bids before the cleanup can begin. Leon would then be billed for the city’s work.

We commend Mr. Nguyen for taking the initiative and beginning cleanup work on his property. We hope the others get theirs done quickly as well.

With the summer fast approaching, we want visitors to remember downtown Austin for our restaurants and our unique shops, not for the aftermath of a fire that broke out months ago.