Another thing that comes to mind.
Many many moons ago.
It was preached by the then developers.
Quote
Never ever delete a forum, just turn it off

That is still my SOP.
If and when I need another forum I would either recycle the one I turned off because the permissions were already set or if I decide I may need the posts in the future then I would create a net new forum.

Blue Man Group
There is no such thing as stupid questions. Just stupid answers