The Seneca County Courthouse, Tiffin, Ohio - ENDANGERED FOR NO REASON; BUT NOW, HOPE LIVES!!
25 August 2009 - For many years now, our county commissioners have been devising a scheme in which they could tear down our historic 1884 Seneca County Courthouse, in order to replace it with a "generic" looking building, which would be too small to make a dent in the space they need to conduct county business, as laid out in their recent Space Needs Study. Many entities, including the Tiffin Historic Trust, has been spending those same years trying to demonstrate to our county commissioners that the current building can be saved, restore, & renovated, giving the county all the room it will need, for a price much lower than what they seemed to believe was possible. Any talk of them trying to restore the building was met with the usual arguments, that such a project would be "fiscally irresponsible".
About one year ago, enter Franklin Conoway & his team of experts, who did a more extensive study of the current courthouse than had ever been done to date. After much hard work, getting exact estimates for the various projects that needed to be done to accomplish this goal (rather than the ballpark estimates that previous groups have depended on & presented to the county as being "written in stone", they were able to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the entire renovation/restoration of the Seneca County Courthouse could be accomplished for about $7,995,000. A significant amount of the funding for this project could come from outside sources, many of whom have already said they would be "on board" with the project, were it to move forward. This, in addition to low interest loans (USDA, etc), & grants from various organizations, could bring the cost down to virtually nothing to the Seneca County taxpayer.
THE DREAM IS ALIVE!!!!!
Many thanks go to many people who had a hand or two into making this possible: Franklin Conoway & his brilliant team, The Seneca County Courthouse and Downtown Development Group, the Tiffin Historic Trust, and the many, many, many citizens of Tiffin & Seneca County, Ohio, who have given their imput via letters to the newspaper, donating funds in support of the cause, & some of the local media, such as the Toledo TV stations & the Toledo Blade, for giving the facts in full, in order to keep our county & community informed as to how this journey has progressed.
Today, the Seneca County Commissioners have passed, & signed, a resolution to begin work on the renovation/restoration of our 1884 Seneca County Courthouse. They have finally been shown, to their satisfaction, that restoration is INDEED the most "fiscally responsible" thing to do. After perhaps 6 or 7 years of debate, discussion, & out & out battle, the truth of this situation has finally seen the light of day, it's finally been accepted, & it will finally come to pass!!
About one year ago, enter Franklin Conoway & his team of experts, who did a more extensive study of the current courthouse than had ever been done to date. After much hard work, getting exact estimates for the various projects that needed to be done to accomplish this goal (rather than the ballpark estimates that previous groups have depended on & presented to the county as being "written in stone", they were able to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the entire renovation/restoration of the Seneca County Courthouse could be accomplished for about $7,995,000. A significant amount of the funding for this project could come from outside sources, many of whom have already said they would be "on board" with the project, were it to move forward. This, in addition to low interest loans (USDA, etc), & grants from various organizations, could bring the cost down to virtually nothing to the Seneca County taxpayer.
THE DREAM IS ALIVE!!!!!
Many thanks go to many people who had a hand or two into making this possible: Franklin Conoway & his brilliant team, The Seneca County Courthouse and Downtown Development Group, the Tiffin Historic Trust, and the many, many, many citizens of Tiffin & Seneca County, Ohio, who have given their imput via letters to the newspaper, donating funds in support of the cause, & some of the local media, such as the Toledo TV stations & the Toledo Blade, for giving the facts in full, in order to keep our county & community informed as to how this journey has progressed.
Today, the Seneca County Commissioners have passed, & signed, a resolution to begin work on the renovation/restoration of our 1884 Seneca County Courthouse. They have finally been shown, to their satisfaction, that restoration is INDEED the most "fiscally responsible" thing to do. After perhaps 6 or 7 years of debate, discussion, & out & out battle, the truth of this situation has finally seen the light of day, it's finally been accepted, & it will finally come to pass!!
And Now.....
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SENECA COUNTY COURTHOUSE, in pictures. None of these photos have been edited, altered, or changed in any way, other than resizing to save space, brightening of some of the darker ones, and the use of a sharp mask to bring the details (including any possible glaring problems) into sharper focus. As predicted, the experts who have inspected this building in glaring detail have stated that this building is safe, it is strong, & can be saved for less money than tearing it down & building a small building that would never have given the county government the space it says it needs to begin with. Almost every single "problem" with this building do not take away from it's overall excellent condition; most of the things that need to be done are purely cosmetic, or have to do w/ rethinking how the space in the building is being used, & how it could be used to greater efficiency.
The Seneca County Courthouse
Seneca County (OH) Courthouse, in Danger of Razing; BUT HOPE IS NOW ALIVE!!
Our 1884 Courthouse, designed by renowned architect Elijah E. Myers, has been in danger of being destroyed, thanks to the desires of our county commissioners. This video was shown during several tours conducted by the Tiffin Historic Trust beginning on 29 & 30 Dec. It shows the irreplaceable nature of it's archetectural details, the wonderful condition the building is in (according to many restoration experts), & why this building is not "falling apart" or "dangerous", as the commissioners used to claim it was. As of 24 August 2009, after many years of contentious debate, lawsuits, & numerous studies, the Seneca County Commissioners today passed & signed a resolution to RESTORE & RENOVATE OUR COURTHOUSE, saving it from demolition. The credit for this goes to Franklin Conoway & his group of experts, The Seneca County Courthouse and Downtown Development Group, the Tiffin Historic Trust, & the many, many, many citizens of Tiffin & Seneca County, Ohio, who have believed it this dream & who have been publicly vocal about it for many years now. THE DREAM IS ALIVE!!!.
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6 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
Let me know what you think of these pictures, and whether they show you a building that's dangerous, falling down and beyond hope, or a building that Seneca County can be proud of, that Seneca County WILL be proud of, once it is completed.
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- Ohio USA Ohio USA Aug 27, 2009 @ 7:33 am | in reply to LinTK
- A giant stride to be sure! Cheers!!!!
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- LinTK LinTK Aug 25, 2009 @ 11:59 pm | in reply to Big A Stals
- Big A: The happy news, as of today, is that the Seneca County Courthouse will ONCE AGAIN become the Seneca County Courthouse! Read the revised intro to this page, look up the Toledo Blade's story on it, & see for yourself that MIRACLES REALLY *DO* OCCUR!!
As one building goes, so do the others. First we had the restoration of The Ritz Theatre; then the Shawhan's remarkable rebirth as an assisted living facility. Next will come the Courthouse, & after that, if like minds keep the ball rolling, the entire Historic Downtown District will continue to come back to life.
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- Big A Stals Big A Stals Aug 24, 2009 @ 4:47 am
- I really am surprised that no one has taken any initiative towards coming up with something to actually use the building. Being from Tiffin, I know that building stands out to help define what is left of the downtown after all the company's bailed out and are sitting as vacant. (American Standard should be reported to the EPA for all the illegal dumping to fill in the land under that parking lot out back and forced to bring clean up jobs back to Tiffin) Anyhoo... I cant help but think either the courthouse or the old East Jr. High School building being perfect locations for an international school/prep college for international students wishing to come to the states and learn English and head to college. Bring fresh money to Tiffin business, employ 50-100 people locally, actually have something downtown that doesn't have the activity of a morgue. I current teach in Vietnam, but would like to see a positive change for Tiffin's future. Tearing down the building is a real bad idea.
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- LinTK LinTK Jul 28, 2009 @ 9:27 am | in reply to Nick
- You brought up a couple of intersting points, Nick. Yes, we've been "getting by" w/out the Courthouse. But how well? Right now, we have our Juvenile & Probate courts in a building that is not ADA compliant. That's not a good thing for those who cannot use the building due to mobility problems (which includes me at times). This must be remedied ASAP. The Annex was built to house these courts.
The county's citizens will not have to shoulder this alone, financially. There are grants out there to be had, if they're applied for. If nobody bothers to apply for them, someone else will get that money, & not US.
I understand that quite a few of the people who would be directly influenced daily - judges, employees in various county dept's, etc - are fully IN FAVOR of what Mr Conaway & his panel of experts have put together.
Come to the Ritz tomorrow (Wed) evening at 6p - see the presentation for yourself when Conaway & Co present it to the public. You will be SURPRISED!
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- Nick Nick Jul 28, 2009 @ 6:48 am
- Here's the point. Seneca county taxpayers are not hick's, they are realists and do not want to spend money that we don't have to no end. Something the current federal administration could also use a significant dose of.
I digress, currently we have a economy in which unemployment is at 15% and people are losing their homes and jobs.
Courthouse renovation or building costs are somewhere between $6mm or $9mm on the taxpayers of Seneca county.
The county and city government has been getting done WITHOUT the use of the courthouse. We are laying of police, fire, and crossing guards..should we spend $6mm on a new/renovated building we've demonstrated we don't need?
I am not advocating tearing it down or building new. In fact i guess my suggestion would be to go in remediate some of what needs fixing in the old courthouse, make the outside look nice and then mothball it. Open it up for tours to the local historical societies for a touring fee of course.
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- LinTK LinTK Oct 6, 2008 @ 12:06 am
- (con't) A couple other brief comments on your post, anonymous:
1- The Annex was build *in order to restore the Courthouse* - not to replace it. The heating/cooling unit that was installed, that would take care of all the needs of both buildings, is still sitting on the Annex roof.
2- Closing off one street for 3 days for the Heritage Festival would not compare to having to shut down part of S. Washington, E. Perry, Court St, & part of Jefferson, for months on end, in order to demolish a building the size of the Courthouse, & to build a new structure.
3- A few business owners I spoke to said that should that building be torn down, they will beat the rush & LEAVE TIFFIN BEFORE IT COMES DOWN, rather than risk losing business, due to the point I made in #2. Driving independent business owners out of town is NOT a good way to "revitalize" our downtown. As a long standing former downtown business owner, I know this for a fact.
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- LinTK LinTK Oct 5, 2008 @ 11:53 pm
- anonymous: Thanks for your input.
One comment: The Courthouse is NOT full of mold. If it were, I'd have gotten extremely sick - as in "rushed to the ER" sick, if there were any mold whatsoever in it, as I am violently allergic to the stuff. As you can see by my pics, I have been all through the building, right up into the clock tower, & there is NO MOLD. This is another lie that has been perpetuated by our county gov't. The health dept also did a study of the building, & the RTA building is actually much more "dangerous" in that regard than the Courthouse. This is public record, & I believe you can get a copy of that report - I know that other private citizens have done just that.
The cost of renovating the Courthouse *could* be more than a new building...or it could be *less*. When you go w/ a high-end firm, they're going to give you a high-end estimate. If you go w/ a more reasonable firm, they're going to give you a more reasonable estimate.
(Oh - I deleted your 8 extra posts)
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- tuebor tuebor Oct 5, 2008 @ 7:10 pm
- To Anonymous: First of all the new building was not built as a replacement for the courthouse.
Secondly, the asbestos has already been removed from the courthouse in 2001 as a separate project. Third: there is no proof that new construction will be less than the cost to renovate the 1884 courthouse. The commissioners only have estimates, and until they take bids on the project, the true cost is unknown.
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- annonymous annonymous Oct 5, 2008 @ 12:11 pm
- I have lived in Tiffin pretty much my whole life. I think the Courthouse, though it does hold much value, charm and historical aspect; should be torn down. They did build the new one because the old courthouse is hazardous. It is filled with aspectice and mold, and probably so many other things that are harmful. No one in Tiffin will be harmed because of the aspectice coming from it being torn down. If there was any danger, people would be warned. traffic does not have to be re-routed for that either. they would use that city block. If they did in the even of having to re-route traffic,they do that for the Heritage Festival anyhow, so no, it wouldn't be a big deal. AND building the new one was PROVEN to have cost LESS than to RENOVATE the old courthouse building. It just makes sense. You have to think realistically.
They just tore down the old Seneca East High school in Attica, and that had alot of historical emphesis too. People accepted it an moved on.
People in Tiffin need to too.
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- LinTK LinTK Jul 23, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
- BTW, the words "demolition" or "restoration" did NOT appear on the ballot issue, nor can anyone vote on that issue, by law. The ballot issue was for a tax - PERIOD. But don't tell the commissioners that, or their heads will explode from over-exposure to the TRUTH.
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by LinTK
My name is LinTK. I have 2 children, one husband, and 4 ferrets. The ferrets are in charge.
I am not affiliated with anyone involved in any lawsu...
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