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.

Parades snaked around the imposing sandstone building, with marching bands and floats stopping in front of the reviewing stand, which was always erected in front of the courthouse.

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.

They know the building well and have documented the beams, stones, and cast-iron stairs that Elijah E. Myers chose to use when he designed Tiffin's courthouse 123 years ago.

When Seneca County decided to build a new courthouse during the post-Civil War boom, county leaders hired the best designer available. And in the 1880s, Mr. Myers was the rock star of architects.

From the 1860s through 1902, he designed a dozen county courthouses in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Nebraska, and California.

He designed massive city-hall buildings in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Richmond, Va., and churches, a high school, a hospital, a library, the president's house at Michigan State University, an asylum in Mexico City, and the Brazilian Parliament Building in Rio de Janeiro.

But he is most remembered for being the designer of the Michigan, Colorado, and Texas state capitol buildings, which still stand, as well as Idaho's first capitol, which is gone.

He was born in Philadelphia in 1832 and died in 1909 in Detroit, where he maintained an office most of his working life.

He designed his buildings to be fireproof and to last for ages. Tiffin's courthouse is a classic Myers design and was constructed with the best materials available at the time.

"This building is literally irreplaceable," said Kerry Chartkoff, historian of the Michigan Capitol. "They have a fortune in materials that are no longer available anywhere."

Ms. Chartkoff is conflicted about the courthouse in Tiffin. She wants it saved, but if it comes down, its demolition will benefit the Michigan Capitol she loves.

"It is really irresponsible if they go ahead with demolition," she said. "One hundred years from now people will look back in amazement that they destroyed this building, but if they do we'll be there to get as much stone from the building as possible for repairs to our building."

It turns out that Elijah Myers used the best materials available for the Michigan Capitol and the Seneca County courthouse - the same black carbonized limestone and beautiful white Vermont marble was used for the black and white tiles in the floors throughout both buildings.

The Vermont General Assembly has passed a law that none of the scarce remaining white marble may be quarried out of the last quarry in the state where it is found.

Valerie Marvin, who also works at the Michigan Capitol, was sent last year to Tiffin to inspect and photograph the courthouse for the Elijah Myers archives that Michigan maintains.

"You can see the original woodwork. Much of it has never been painted. The quality is better than what we have at the Michigan Capitol," she said. "The original glass transoms are still there with the original department names painted on them.

"The staircases are all original cast iron and there are two or three large vaults to store records, with original doors and circular cast-iron staircases in them," Ms. Marvin said.

But for her, finding the black limestone and white marble tiles was a moment she'll always remember.

"There was dirt on the floors, but in the vault I looked down and saw the tiles. I got down on my hands and knees and spit on the floor to clean a spot, and saw the tiny white sea creatures embedded in the black tiles," she said. "They are the same as the tiles in the Michigan Capitol, and we have hundreds of geologists, students, school kids, and tourists who come each year just to see our tiles and the architecture of the building."

To Stan Graves, the director of the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program that has provided more than $145 million in grants to renovate 64 county courthouses in Texas, demolition of the Seneca County courthouse should not be an option.

Mr. Graves was invited to Tiffin last month to tour the courthouse and to talk with Seneca County Commissioners Ben Nutter and Dave Sauber, who are pushing for demolition so they can build a new and cheaper courthouse.

Mr. Graves told the commissioners and local preservationists that their 1884 courthouse was a $30 million to $50 million asset that was "better than our state Capitol building, [with] higher-quality woodwork."

Last week Mr. Graves said commissioners need to look beyond temporary financial concerns and realize "the treasure" they have.

"A lot of people know the cost of things, but they don't know the value of things. The building they have is irreplaceable. The community is going to have a black eye if it comes down," he said.

And his view of Mr. Nutter and Mr. Sauber if they succeed in tearing down the courthouse Elijah Myers designed in Tiffin?

"They definitely shouldn't be serving in public office."

First Published October 7, 2007, 9:16 a.m.