They are probably right about the optics. Who would want to take, say, craft classes inside a dying building symbolizing the cons of modern life.
edit: bulldozing it and putting something else in that place would also be fine, but that costs a fair bit. and really, even just having a big indoor walking space was quite popular, there were several meetups using it, lots of elderly walkers and readers, etc. it was nowhere near as popular as a Walmart of course, but it transformed into a pseudo-public space for a while and it made me realize that "indoor parks" are kinda not a thing, but maybe they should be. particularly in places with a lot of rain or cold.
that, and a big rotting building in the middle of town is rather unambiguously worse optics for the area than even small use. it inevitably gets covered in graffiti and damage, and even minor use prevents that a lot.
I guess a not-actively-damaging source of tax revenue is always welcome in a town.
Private investors could certainly choose to take a small hit to their return and take pride in how their investment looks from the outside. There's value in that.
Or heat.
If you move into it, and have an active student body there every day, then it's not dead anymore, right? It's thriving with activity.
The people wanting to take craft classes are probably not going to ruminate over whether the classroom they're in was once a Foot Locker. I mean, as long as you aren't lazy about converting the space (i.e. take down the old signage and ditch the black and white stripes).
Look at the sibling comment to yours. There's a short video about Austin's CC. The place looks great!