COLUMBIANA COUNTY Courthouse workers trying to save antique phone booth

A plan is being discussed in which a charity might benefit if the booth is sold.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- A potential deal to save an antique phone booth at Columbiana County Courthouse is being discussed, but it would entail it from Ameritech.
Commissioner Jim Hoppel met Tuesday with an Ameritech representative regarding the fate of the wooden phone booth that has stood in the courthouse's first-floor corridor for decades.
Last week, Ameritech removed the pay phone from the booth because it wasn't earning enough revenue. The company said it also would take the phone booth, unless it is paid $400.
Commissioners have said the county will not use government money to buy the booth.
Dismayed at the idea of losing a longtime courthouse fixture, employees in the building are trying to raise $400 to keep it.
Tentative deal: In the meeting Tuesday with Ameritech, Hoppel said a tentative deal was discussed in which Ameritech would be paid $400 for the booth and would donate the money to a charitable cause of the county's choosing.
The offer is tentative, however, because it must be approved by Ameritech executives, Hoppel said.
An Ameritech spokeswoman said only that the company is looking into the matter.
She was unable to immediately explain why the company wants the booth and how it arrived at a $400 value for it.
Hoppel said he was told by Ameritech that if the company removes the booth from the courthouse, it would probably sell it.