Vidalia’s loose relationship with the Fruit of the Loom distribution center in its industrial park could either wind up being a blessing or a curse.

Bafflingly, the Vidalia Apparel facility has operated since 1995 on a piece of town property without a lease.

That doesn’t make good business sense. It probably seemed fine at the time, but as a relationship ends — and all business relationships eventually do — the devil is in the details. Without a lease the company can walk away with little fanfare.

Now, as the company is working a plan to shutter the facility, the company plans to donate the building to the Town of Vidalia.

A wise man once said be careful of something that sounds too good to be true. The city needs to approach the donation with a little caution.

Perhaps the city’s lame-duck administration is fully aware of the risks with accepting the building. If they are, we hope they will share that due diligence with the new administration and with the public.

Does the city understand the maintenance costs of the 900,000 square-foot building?

Has the city made any kind of forecast on the impact of the tax losses that will result when the building is closed and the more than 160 workers are unemployed?

We hope and expect all of our fears are unjustified, but without clear communication from the soon-to-be-gone administration, it’s anyone’s guess.