TIFFIN, Ohio (AP) – An antiques dealer says he’s been swamped with phone calls and visits from people wanting pieces of a more than 125-year-old courthouse being demolished.

David Kreais of Antiques Warehouse in Tiffin says he won’t sell anything until the Seneca County Courthouse is gone and the controversy over its demise has died down. He got the wrecking company’s permission to buy and salvage items from the site.

The (Toledo) Blade reports (http://bit.ly/yCBgNw ) Kreais says he salvaged items including solid cherry doors with etched-glass windows, cast-iron heat registers and the workings of the building’s massive tower clocks.

A wrecking crew began taking down the 1884 courthouse earlier this month after preservation-minded taxpayers abandoned their court fight.

Local officials who favored demolition said the county didn’t have the funds to renovate the building.

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Information from: The Blade, http://www.toledoblade.com/

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