August 12, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070812/NEWS17/70812001/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published August 12, 2007 Texans find value in restoring historic courthouses Renovations can save cash, fuel heritage tourism By JOSHUA BOAK BLADE POLITICS WRITER Upon hearing that Seneca County plans to demolish its 1884 county courthouse, the director of Texas’ courthouse renovation program offered to fly to Ohio. “They’re confused about the issues,” Stan Graves said. “The key issue is what is the vision for the community. And if that vision is to tear down that landmark — the centerpiece of their community — then I think they have no long-term vision.” Texans have a distinct reason for caring about the Seneca County Courthouse. It shares an architect, Elijah Myers, with their state capitol.
August 12, 200717 yr You have to give kudos to The Blade ... they have done a superb job in covering the Seneca County Courthouse issue...
August 12, 200717 yr Agreed. This is some of the best coverage of a preservation issue I have seen in any Ohio paper. I think some of us should send letters to the Blades editors thanking them and urging them to keep pressing the issue. Any takers? If so, pleasse post what you send the Blade.
August 12, 200717 yr The Blade kicks ass. They do some of the best --if not the best -- investigative work in the state.
August 14, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070814/NEWS17/708140362/-1/NEWS Article published August 14, 2007 Seneca County panel followed law, attorneys say By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN - Six Seneca County residents who want to halt the impending demolition of the county's old courthouse offered "inferences upon inferences" that county commissioners violated Ohio's public meetings law but did not prove those inferences, attorneys for the commissioners claimed yesterday. In an 11-page brief filed in Seneca County Common Pleas Court, attorneys for the commissioners asked visiting Judge Charles Wittenberg to deny the preservationists' request for a preliminary injunction, saying they had not proved the board did anything illegal last Aug. 31 when it unanimously approved a plan for county buildings that included razing the 1884 courthouse.
August 15, 200717 yr Seneca County may replicate building that stood in 1841 BY JENNIFER FEEHAN | TOLEDO BLADE August 15, 2007 IMAGE: A rendering of the 1841 Seneca County Courthouse in Tiffin. A suggestion to appease people on both sides of the local courthouse debate is to build a new one just like it. Toledo Blade/Provided TIFFIN - Seneca County Commissioner Dave Sauber hopes to appease people on both sides of the local courthouse debate by having a new courthouse built that would replicate an even older version of the county courthouse. "I think the 1841 courthouse is a beautiful-looking courthouse," Mr. Sauber said, referring to the federal-style courthouse that predated the existing 1884 structure. The brick, two-story building was razed in 1883 to make way for the Beaux Arts-style, sandstone courthouse designed by noted American architect Elijah E. Myers. Mr. Sauber said the replicated courthouse he envisions would incorporate the original clock tower from the 1884 courthouse. Yesterday, he sent an outline of his idea with pictures of the two buildings to MKC Associates of Mansfield, Ohio, which he said agreed to do a rendering of the building at no cost to the county.
August 15, 200717 yr Other than the cheap materials that I'm sure they'll use, yeah, it's great. :(' That's just an insult.
August 19, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070819/NEWS17/708190326/-1/NEWS Article published August 19, 2007 Politics drives historic preservation Question of demolition often left to mercy of lawmakers' whims BY JIM PROVANCE BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU COLUMBUS - The state of Ohio has been willing to reach into its pockets, sometimes very deeply into its pockets, to preserve and restore historic structures. But which projects are deemed worthy is largely a subjective political process left to the whims of lawmakers who control the state's capital budget, a two-year blueprint setting borrowing priorities for brick-and-mortar projects across the state. Ohio has poured hundreds of millions of dollars over the years into restoring the Ohio Statehouse, opera houses and theaters, train stations, homesteads of historic figures, libraries, schoolhouses, and even the occasional county courthouse. But for every preservation triumph - be it Toledo's Valentine Theatre in Toledo, or Adena, Gov. Thomas Worthington's mansion in Chillicothe - there's an Ironton High School, the classical-style 1922 building that preservationists wanted to save but recently fell victim to the wrecking ball.
August 21, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070821/NEWS17/708210387/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published August 21, 2007 Final plea made to save 1884 landmark Wittenberg asked to delay demolition By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN - In a final plea to "keep the respirator on" Seneca County's 1884 courthouse, the attorney for six Seneca County residents trying to halt demolition of the local landmark yesterday said commissioners should be stopped because their decision to demolish the building was made in private. John Barga asked Judge Charles Wittenberg to issue a temporary restraining order that would at least delay demolition. He contended the commissioners' Aug. 31, 2006, vote to adopt a 15-year plan for county facilities that included razing the courthouse was made illegally.
August 28, 200717 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070828/DEVELOPINGNEWS/70828020 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published August 28, 2007 Judge denies request to stop demolition of courthouse in Tiffin BLADE STAFF (Posted at 10:28 a.m.) Six Seneca County residents plea for an injunction to stop demolition of the 1884 courthouse was denied this morning by retired Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Charles Wittenberg. In a six-page opinion, Judge Wittenberg said the plaintiffs had not shown that they would likely be able to prove the county commissioners had violated Ohio's public meetings law prior to deciding to tear down the shuttered courthouse.
August 29, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070829/NEWS02/708290407/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published August 29, 2007 Judge denies request to spare Seneca County courthouse By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN - Six residents trying to stop demolition of Seneca County's 1884 courthouse lost their battle in Common Pleas Court yesterday, but they insist they'll keep fighting. "We're disappointed, but we have not given up," said Rayella Engle, one of the plaintiffs. "We think we still have a very good case, and we're planning on going to the appeals court with it." Judge Wittenberg, who is retired from Lucas County Common Pleas Court, said the preservationists had not shown any evidence that the county commissioners violated Ohio's open-meetings law prior to deciding to bulldoze the courthouse. "They have failed to present sufficient proof that defendants engaged in deliberations in a nonpublic setting in contravention of" the Ohio Sunshine Law, the judge wrote.
September 5, 200717 yr ^^ we should all go and show our support of the courthouse, and all send letters, I mean, do they know the amount of support for restoration coming from all over the midwest, and the nation? Reconstruction is good, but not when it involves demolition of a historic building. The seneca county officials are morons to let this structure go, when will they ever get such a majestic, beautiful, ornate structure that shows the pride of the people in seneca county? Never, they can restore it, rebuild the clocktower. But how are they going to get funding for a new clocktower? Crawfordsville Indiana has been trying to restore its second empire 80 ft clocktower for the past 10 years and has only made $200'000. The price, $1000'000.
September 6, 200717 yr At a meeting Monday night, the Tiffin Historic Trust decided to start a pledge campaign to raise $1 million to replace the clocktower on the 1884 courthouse. The tower was removed in the 1940s and replaced with a "modern" structure that many people say detracts from the building's appearance. I don't quite understand the logic behind this. The whole building is about to disappear and they are raising money to rebuilt the already-lost tower? Why not raise the money to go toward saving the courthouse and forget about the tower for now.
September 7, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070907/NEWS02/709070371 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 7, 2007 Courthouse fight in Seneca County goes to next level; injunction sought to block razing By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN - An attorney for six Seneca County residents fighting to save the county's 1884 courthouse registered his intent to appeal yesterday with the Lima-based 3rd District Court of Appeals. Tiffin attorney John Barga also filed a motion asking Judge Charles Wittenberg, who is serving as a visiting judge in Seneca County Common Pleas Court, to grant an injunction halting demolition of the old courthouse until the appeal can be heard. On Aug. 28, Judge Wittenberg denied the preservationists' motion for a preliminary injunction, saying they had not shown that Seneca County commissioners violated the state's open-meetings law when they voted to raze the courthouse in August, 2006.
September 11, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070910/BREAKINGNEWS/70910043 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 10, 2007 Seneca County sued over request for records By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER COLUMBUS — Claiming Seneca County commissioners intentionally withheld public records from The Blade, or destroyed them, the newspaper Monday asked the Ohio Supreme Court to order commissioners to retrieve and turn over all e-mails concerning the proposed demolition of the county’s historic 1884 courthouse. The complaint also asks the court to prohibit commissioners from razing the shuttered courthouse until the county has complied with the state’s open-records and open-meeting laws. “Elected officials acting in good faith should have nothing to hide regarding their deliberations and decisions,” Toledo lawyer Fritz Byers wrote in The Blade’s complaint. “And to ensure that principle, Ohio law mandates openness in deliberations and decisions through a well-harmonized pair of laws — Public Records and Open Meetings — that operate together to cement the crucial principles of transparency and public scrutiny.”
September 14, 200717 yr If there was ever evidence that the Seneca County Commissioners don't give a hoot what the people they serve think, this story is very telling. Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070913/NEWS17/709130406 Article published September 13, 2007 Texas courthouse expert to visit, but Seneca County axes presentation By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN - A local preservation group fighting to save Seneca County's 1884 courthouse is bringing an expert on the topic to town next week, but they can't get county commissioners to meet with him. Jackie Fletcher, a member of the Tiffin Historic Trust, said she asked to have Stan Graves, director of the Texas Historic County Courthouse Preservation Program, placed on Monday's commission agenda. But after initially being told that would be fine by County Administrator Cindy Keller, she was later informed that he would not be on the agenda. "I wasn't surprised at all," a frustrated Ms. Fletcher said yesterday. "It's just that we can't just let it go. We're too far down the road to just let it go. I keep hoping against all hope that they would somehow see the light." Ms. Keller said she was told by Commissioners Dave Sauber and Ben Nutter that they did not want Mr. Graves on the agenda.
September 14, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070914/NEWS18/709140434/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 14, 2007 Expert will tour 1884 courthouse in Seneca County Officials again bar presentation By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN — A courthouse preservation expert from Texas will be permitted to tour Seneca County's endangered 1884 courthouse next week, although county commissioners again denied a request to allow him to make a presentation at their meeting on Monday. Stan Graves, an architect who directs the Texas Historic County Courthouse Preservation Program, is to be in Tiffin next week at the invitation of the Tiffin Historic Trust, a local preservation group that is fighting to save the now-shuttered courthouse from the wrecking ball. He plans to tour the building Monday morning, meet with preservation and downtown representatives in the afternoon, and give a presentation about courthouse preservation and economic development at 7 p.m. at the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library. Yesterday, Commission Chairman Dave Sauber again refused to have Mr. Graves on the commissioners' agenda. 'We already made the decision' to tear down the courthouse, Mr. Sauber said. 'What would we accomplish?'
September 16, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070916/NEWS17/70916001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 16, 2007 Seneca preservationists stay in step Courthouse supporters join Tiffin’s annual parade By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN — Grand Marshal Donna Uhlenhake didn’t hide her views on Seneca County’s endangered 1884 courthouse as she rode through downtown in yesterday’s Heritage Festival parade. Red and white “Save Our Courthouse” signs hung from each side of the red convertible. “It’s the most visible symbol of our heritage and so much of our history is within those walls,” Mrs. Uhlenhake said after the well-attended parade wound up on Frost Parkway along the Sandusky River. Preservationists fighting the county commissioners’ plan to tear down the old courthouse and replace it with a smaller, modern one turned out to march in the annual parade that celebrates the county’s history. Mike Bridinger, the only county commissioner who supports renovation, marched alongside them.
September 17, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070917/NEWS17/70917038 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 17, 2007 Seneca County courthouse is in good condition, says preservation expert By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN — After spending an hour in Seneca County’s 1884 courthouse this morning, a Texas architect who specializes in courthouse restoration declared the building to be in “remarkably good shape.” Stan Graves, who heads the Texas Historic County Courthouse Preservation Program, said he arrived in Tiffin expecting to find a dilapidated building with mold, structural problems, water damage, and cracked plaster. Instead, he found a courthouse of high style, built with quality materials, and remarkably intact. He told commissioners as much during their public comment period, explaining that a restored courthouse could lead to a revitalized downtown — something he has seen happen in many Texas communities. “That’s your asset,” he said. “That’s a $30 million to $50 million asset that you would be, I think, very short-sighted to get rid of.”
September 18, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070918/NEWS17/70918001 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 18, 2007 Expert tours courthouse, calls it 'remarkably good' Seneca County asset valued at up to $50M By JENNIFER FEEHAN and JOSHUA BOAK BLADE STAFF WRITERS TIFFIN — Stan Graves swallowed his Texas pride after walking into Seneca County’s 1884 courthouse yesterday. Mr. Graves declared himself envious that the architect, Elijah Myers, exhibited superior craftsmanship in the Seneca County Courthouse compared to another one of his buildings, the Texas statehouse. “This is better than our state Capitol building, higher quality woodwork,” Mr. Graves said during a presentation last night at the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library to an audience of roughly 100 people. But Seneca County Commissioner Dave Sauber, the one person Mr. Graves needed to convince, left the presentation unswayed by the arguments about Texas’ success in providing more than $145 million in grants to renovate 64 of its county courthouses. Ohio does not have a similar program. “I was disappointed that I was told he had these mechanisms for funding,” Mr. Sauber said. “I didn’t hear that.”
September 19, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070919/NEWS17/709190435 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 19, 2007 E-mails discussed razing Seneca County courthouse prior to 2006 vote By STEVE EDER BLADE STAFF WRITER Seneca County commissioners quietly circulated drafts of plans for the demolition of the county courthouse outside the public's view in the weeks before they voted 2-1 to demolish the historic 1884 structure, e-mails released to The Blade show. The behind-the-scenes information gathering was evident in 758 pages of e-mails released to The Blade by the commission's lawyers late Monday, a week after the newspaper sued the commission for destroying or failing to make public all of its electronic communications. Asked to comment about the e-mails yesterday, Commissioner Ben Nutter said he was advised by his lawyer not to answer questions from The Blade. "I'm not going to comment to The Toledo Blade as they are suing the county and wasting the taxpayers' money," Mr. Nutter said.
September 21, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070921/NEWS17/709210391/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 21, 2007 Sparks arise in debate over fate of Seneca County courthouse Preservationists clash with officials By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN - Tempers flared yesterday as local preservationists fighting to save Seneca County's 1884 courthouse clashed with the two county commissioners they contend are bent on razing the historic landmark. Rayella Engle, one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit aimed at stopping demolition, accused the board of feeding the public misinformation about the courthouse for two years. Commissioner Ben Nutter countered that all the misinformation was coming from her through her letters to the editor and statements she regularly makes at commission meetings. Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070921/NEWS02/709210396/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 21, 2007 Seneca County commissioners urge dismissal of Blade lawsuit By JIM PROVANCE BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU COLUMBUS - The Seneca County commissioners yesterday urged the Ohio Supreme Court to throw out a lawsuit filed by The Blade seeking to force release of e-mails in which the board privately discussed the fate of the 1884 Tiffin courthouse before making a public decision to raze it. County attorney Mark H. Troutman argued in the motion that "substantially" the same issues have been raised by "substantially" the same people in county court, and that the local case is alive and headed for a permanent injunction hearing on Tuesday. The local court had refused to grant a temporary restraining order in the separate case brought by six county residents, but the plaintiffs have indicated they intend to appeal that decision to the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Lima.
September 25, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070925/NEWS17/709250376/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 25, 2007 Judge won't delay hearing on courthouse By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN - A hearing to determine whether Seneca County commissioners should be stopped from destroying computer equipment that could contain records pertaining to the demolition of the 1884 courthouse is to go on as scheduled today despite attempts by both sides to delay or cancel it. Tiffin attorney John Barga, who represents six county residents who want to save the old courthouse, argued in a motion filed late Friday in Seneca County Common Pleas Court that attorneys for the commissioners informed him Sept. 18 that neither Commissioner Ben Nutter or Dave Sauber would be available for today's hearing.
September 25, 200717 yr On a related note: An Entirely Different Story in Washington Court House Its only 110 miles as the crow flies between Washington Court House and Tiffin, but the future of their landmark county courthouses may well be dramatically different due to the resourcefulness of the Fayette County Commissioners. Just as the Seneca County Commissioners prepare to demolish their venerable courthouse – despite estimates that show renovation as a less expensive option than demolition and building new – folks in Washington Court House are celebrating the results of the Fayette County Commissioners’ work to find avenues toward funding restoration efforts. On Monday, the Commissioners, joined by their state representative, local judges and other officials, were presented with a check for $1.9 million for work on the Fayette County Courthouse, which was constructed between 1882 and 1885 - the very same time frame as its counterpart in Tiffin. According to this coverage in the Washington Court House Record-Herald, the official present from the source of the grant, the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development organization, shared this observation - "The partnership we share with Fayette County’s leadership positions us to help with projects focused on preserving the county’s historic heritage.” http://myhometownohio.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2007/9/25/3252226.html
September 27, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/NEWS02/709270383/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published September 27, 2007 Delay tactic cited in Seneca County case plea to top court By JIM PROVANCE BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU COLUMBUS - The Blade yesterday accused the Seneca County commissioners of attempting a delay tactic by asking the Ohio Supreme Court to dismiss the newspaper's public-records claim against them. "The urge to delay this court's action … is not surprising," wrote Fritz Byers, The Blade's attorney, in a filing before the high court. "Indeed, under the circumstances, one can fairly infer that the board hopes to spring toward the demolition of the courthouse, including the looming execution of the demolition contract, unfettered by any legal constraints, including the nettlesome requirements of open-meetings and public-records law," the court filing reads.
September 28, 200717 yr Hi All: This is my first time here. I stumbled across this a few days ago, looking for something else, & I've finally found it again. I was part of the group that toured the Seneca Co Courthouse on 9/17/07. If you want to see pics taken at that time, showing just how *excellent* the inside of this building is, please visit: http://www.squidoo.com/SenecaCountyCourthouse/ I've got something like 55 or pics posted there, set up as a slideshow. There is also a place to leave your feedback - PLEASE do so!! I want the 2 sorry excuses we have as county commissioners ( :shoot: ) to see just how outraged people are about this. Doesn't matter where you're from - a friend of mine, a tour guide from England, posted her comments from work - in Sardinia. Thank you for all your support!! LinTK Tiffin OH PS: Oh yeah - I'm the one who organized the group that marched in our Heritage Festival parade. You posted the article from the Blade about it. In the pics from that, I'm the one in the middle, carrying the 10' "Save Our Courthouse" banner.
September 28, 200717 yr Thanks for the link! Your pictures are amazing! I posted a comment. I'm now going to go cry.
September 29, 200717 yr Thanks for the link! Your pictures are amazing! That ain't nothin. You should see the video!! Now, *that's* impressive!
September 29, 200717 yr Keep up the good fight LinTK !!!! And then vote the bums out in the next election.
September 30, 200717 yr At this point, I'd be *highly* surprised if they were still here by the next election. A lot of news appears to be on the verge of breaking, & some of it may be pretty incriminating, from the buzz I'm hearing. Plus, the 2 "comedy commissioners", as I call them, are getting more & more tense & testy all the time. I'm waiting for someone to lose it & tip their hand accidentally, attys from Columbus or not. I will be going to the commissioners mtg on Mon morning, & will be taking some of my pics, blown up to 8.5X11, w/ me, as well as the URL of the squidoo site, so they can see what people are saying. And I intend to ask some fairly pointed questions. These 2 buffoons don't scare me. Their motives are so transparent, it's not even funny. And, all the hard work is *really* being done by the Tiffin Historic Trust. They've been busting their butts on this, getting the word out to people & such. I've only jumped in lately. I'm nothing more than just one more citizen of this county who's "mad as hell & am not going to take it any longer."
October 2, 200717 yr Channel 11/Toledo was here today, after receiving my email w/ the link to my squidoo pg. They wanted to see the pics up close, & to interview me. They don't have the video online, but they do have a written version: http://www.wtol.com/global/story.asp?s=7154156
October 3, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071003/NEWS02/71003012/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published October 3, 2007 Ohio high court refuses to drop Blade lawsuit in Seneca County courthouse case BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday, in a 5-1 decision, rejected Seneca County’s arguments that a lawsuit by The Blade should be dismissed and ordered arguments to be filed in the case. The newspaper filed suit last month directly with the high court after Seneca County commissioners allegedly withheld and destroyed e-mail communications associated with their decision to tear down the county’s historic 1884 courthouse. The county, in turn, asked the court to throw out The Blade’s lawsuit, arguing that it raised “substantially” the same issues being addressed in a separate lawsuit filed by six local preservationists in Seneca County Common Pleas Court. The high court gave the newspaper seven days to make its case that the commissioners withheld requested e-mails that show they discussed and circulated documents related to the demolition of the courthouse away from the public’s view.
October 4, 200717 yr What do you think the overall agenda is for these commissioners, when so many differ on this issue? Shady may be an understatement.
October 5, 200717 yr I think what you have here is two commissioners who have backed themselves into a corner and left themselves no easy or credible way out.
October 7, 200717 yr I really think that this is alot more than "bad shape" this two men have little chance of re-election, or being ever accepted in Seneca county ever again. Something tells me hard cash has something to do with this, but who would be paying to have it demolished? 0_o contractors? who? The facts are stated clearly, the state should take action against this decision, as it is extremely fishy.
October 7, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071007/NEWS17/71007001/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published October 7, 2007 Seneca County courthouse battle tears Tiffin apart Historic structure's fate engulfs town, but some refuse to take stand By DAVE MURRAY BLADE SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR TIFFIN — The day was hot, but the streets overflowed with people converging on Tiffin’s flag-draped downtown. At the center of the sea of hats and women in their finest, Seneca County presented its new courthouse to the world in 1884. The small community could not be more proud. The farmers and merchants of the area — then and now one of the most prosperous in Ohio — had hired one of the pre-eminent architects of the day, Elijah E. Myers of Detroit, and spent the then-enormous sum of $214,000 — $44.6 million in today’s dollars — to build a courthouse that would be “an ornament of the city and an honor to every taxpayer in the county.” The three-story Renaissance Revival courthouse now stands empty, threatened with demolition before the end of the year. Instead of bringing the community together as it did with such pride 123 years ago, the courthouse’s fate now divides Seneca County in a bitter dispute that some say will long endure.
October 8, 200717 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071007/NEWS17/710070339/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published October 7, 2007 Designer's works seen as architectural gems By DAVE MURRAY BLADE SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR TIFFIN - Seneca County preservationists fighting to stop the demolition of their historic 1884 courthouse hate to see a building they've lived with their entire lives destroyed. They've gotten their marriage licenses there, served on juries, and filed the deeds to their farms and homes there. They've stopped on the courthouse lawn to catch up on the news with old friends when they were in town. But there is more value to the courthouse than the memories of the people who have lived with it all these years. Historians and those who make it their business to keep track of such "national treasures" are appalled at the idea that Seneca County officials have decided to destroy the courthouse that stands in the heart of Tiffin's historic downtown.
October 10, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071010/NEWS02/71010002 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published October 10, 2007 Blade files Seneca County courthouse brief with Ohio Supreme Court Ex-Tiffin reporter swears nonpublic talks were held By JIM PROVANCE BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU COLUMBUS — A former Tiffin newspaper reporter said yesterday that the Seneca County commissioners admitted to her last year that they discussed and exchanged e-mails about a plan to raze the county’s historic courthouse away from public view before they voted on the plan. A sworn affidavit from Kendall Cable, formerly with The Advertiser-Tribune and now with The News-Times in Newport, Ore., was filed with the Ohio Supreme Court in support of The Blade’s lawsuit seeking to force the commissioners to show e-mails related to the planned demolition of the 1884 courthouse.
October 10, 200717 yr ^^ I cannot wait to find out what these emails are, this could totally change everything.
October 12, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071012/NEWS02/71012001/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published October 12, 2007 New evidence fuels preservationists’ injunction fight for Seneca County courthouse By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN — A sworn statement by a former Tiffin newspaper reporter is being used to revive an attempt by local preservationists to stop Seneca County commissioners from razing the 1884 courthouse. John Barga, attorney for six county residents who sued over the issue, said an affidavit — filed with the Ohio Supreme Court in support of The Blade’s lawsuit against the commissioners — could be the evidence he needs to convince visiting Judge Charles Wittenberg that the commissioners violated the public-meetings law. Mr. Barga filed a motion in county Common Pleas Court yesterday asking Judge Wittenberg to issue a preliminary injunction that would prohibit the commissioners from demolishing the old courthouse.
October 17, 200717 yr Two developments to report: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/NEWS02/710170463/-1/NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published October 17, 2007 Seneca County lawyers ask top court to drop case Claims called 'fishing expedition'; Blade attorney disagrees COLUMBUS — Accusing The Blade of going on a “fishing expedition” for public records, attorneys for the Seneca County commissioners yesterday asked the Ohio Supreme Court to dismiss the newspaper’s claims that commissioners withheld or destroyed documents concerning the planned demolition of the county’s 1884 courthouse. The county should not have to foot the bill for a forensic computer expert to search for evidence the newspaper does not know exists, the board claims. Article published Wednesday, October 17, 2007 Steps begin for Seneca County courthouse design 11 architects submit qualifications to commissioners By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN - Eleven architectural firms interested in designing a new courthouse for Seneca County submitted their credentials to county commissioners yesterday. Commission President Dave Sauber said it could take a couple of weeks for commissioners to read over the proposals and begin the process of interviewing and hiring an architect for the project. The board has not yet determined how much space or even exactly which departments would have offices in the proposed new courthouse, although the request for architects' qualifications that was posted on the commissioners' Web site described a two-story building with a basement and "some type of tower." Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/NEWS17/710170415/-1/NEWS
October 18, 200717 yr I think its stupid that people think its callapsing! The structure just needs a few repairs, it would cost more to reconstruct, PLUS demolition just because county commisioners are being stubborn! All this will do is tear the community even farther apart.
October 19, 200717 yr Fullstory: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071018/NEWS17/710180421 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published October 18, 2007 Tiffin newspaper denies squelching Seneca County Courthouse story By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER TIFFIN — The publisher of the Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune tried yesterday to distance the newspaper from one of its former reporters, who says her former paper would not let her write about Seneca County commissioners’ possible violation of Ohio’s open-meeting law. Chris Dixon, publisher of Tiffin’s daily newspaper, told The Blade yesterday that the Advertiser-Tribune “denies that it in any manner ordered its reporter to omit any information that we believed to be relevant and reliable regarding the events surrounding the Seneca County Courthouse renovation project.”
October 19, 200717 yr Full story: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071019/NEWS24/710190385 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published October 19, 2007 Strickland backs Seneca County courthouse, asks county to delay demolition for further study By JIM PROVANCE BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU COLUMBUS — Gov. Ted Strickland yesterday weighed in on the dispute over the Seneca County Courthouse for the first time, urging the commissioners not to demolish the historic structure before the state has a chance to brainstorm on alternatives. “In no way do I want to use or misuse my position as governor in terms of interfering with local decision-making, but given all the concern that exists around this issue, I would hope first of all that nothing would be done that would be irreversible,” he told The Blade. “That would be appropriate until all of us, local officials and those of us in state government, have had the opportunity to explore every possible solution to this problem,” Mr. Strickland said. “I would hope that nothing would be done that is irreversible, quite frankly, that that structure be in any way dismantled or destroyed.”
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