"...for the original problem in its original specification, the solution was clearly OK." That statement leads me to believe this was technical debt that went

"...for the original problem in its original specification, the solution was clearly OK." That statement leads me to believe this was technical debt that went unpaid and not a failing of design. Additionally, if your company is in a successful enough position to spend the time required to pay down this technical debt then if I were in your position I would count myself as lucky. "...it must have done its job to make it into the code base...", exactly right! Every time I hit one of these situations I view it as a way for me to, "Try and leave this code a little better than you found it." I'm all about making things easier for the next guy who comes along.