TIFFIN - The battle over the fate of the 1884 Seneca County Courthouse is about to move into yet another legal arena.
The Seneca County Board of Commissioners authorized county Prosecutor Derek Devine yesterday to sue the city of Tiffin for denying the county's application to raze the historic downtown courthouse.
The commissioners - who have repeatedly blasted local preservationists for taking the county to court to stop the demolition of the courthouse in Tiffin - plan to ask the Seneca County Court of Common Pleas to determine whether Tiffin's Architectural Board of Review has the right to block the county from demolishing the building, which is in the city's historic district.
The commissioners have been considering options for restoring the building with grant money.
For nearly two years, the courthouse has wavered on the brink of demolition as some Seneca County residents have fought to preserve the building that has stood in the center of Tiffin's downtown district for 125 years.
Commission President Ben Nutter said after yesterday's commissioners' meeting that the board requested the demolition permit from the city of Tiffin's Architectural Board of Review so they would leave open the option to demolish the courthouse "if it doesn't make sense to renovate."Mr. Nutter said that "if at the end of the day it makes sense fiscally to renovate the 1884 courthouse" the commissioners would take that step. But if not, he said having the option to demolish it would be important.
Mr. Devine, who was recently elected prosecutor, said the lawsuit isn't a sign of animosity toward the city, but rather a solution was needed by a judge to bring the city and county together.
The prosecutor said he believes the commissioners could demolish the courthouse without a permit so long as they made a good faith effort to comply with the city's regulations.
The commissioners are bypassing the normal appeal process by taking the issue to the courts.
Adams Township resident Brenda Stultz, who attended yesterday's meeting of the commissioners, said the city's Architectural Board of Review should be allowed to serve its purpose.
"It saddens me that the city and county, and we as citizens, couldn't work this out together," Ms. Stultz said. "Another part of me says that if the law is such that the county commissioners have all power and authority, the law needs to be changed in order to be able to protect such important buildings. It is not just any building."
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