Realistically, that would be the way to do it. Staff have all the tools to compensate any lost items - it would just be time consuming and tedious. Personally, I'd be down to grind through comp requests though.
Either way, Ryan stated a few days ago that he doesn't plan on fully closing s2 for a very long time.
I agree with him, and I think it's way too soon to close a server.
If we could find some way to properly compensate s2 players, maybe add some new gang sheds and houses in key areas, and have excellent performance with high player population on s1, I think mergining the servers would be great.
All of those things are MUCH easier said than done though.
That's not really how any event works on the server. I get your frustration, but you're often going to get third-partied. That's how is always been and it'll never change.
The bank is already a very civ-sided event. If you're holding the office buildings, you should be clapping kids left and right tbh.