Stonington -- A firm has begun dismantling the former Campbell Grain Co. building at the end of Coggswell Street in Pawcatuck.

Instead of demolishing the deteriorating 99-year-old structure, owner Frank DeCiantis said the building is being taken apart piece by piece to salvage the post and beams made of valuable long leaf pine and chestnut that hold up the structure.

“I have an attachment to the building. I don’t want to see it chopped up into garbage,” he said.

Meanwhile, First Selectman Rob Simmons said last week the town is taking legal steps to ensure that whatever money DeCiantis earns from the eventual sale of the property be first used to repay the town the $71,000 it spent in 2011 to tear down a section of the dilapidated structure that was badly damaged by Hurricane Irene and was condemned.

The town has since placed a lien on the property. DeCiantis said he has no immediate plans to pay off the lien.

DeCiantis said the building with its 7-foot-ceiling and post every 12 feet poses an impediment to redevelopment and could not be converted into a use such as condominiums.

He said the deconstruction work by Westwood Demolition and Salvage of Plainfield has been going on for about a month and will take another two to three months to complete.

He said the interior dismantling work will be done before the exterior walls come down.

As for the future of the two-acre-site, DeCiantis said his focus now is taking the building down. He said he is not trying to sell the property at this time.

He added that some potential developers had looked at the site in the past but saw the building as a liability.

The work comes as the town continues its long and frustrating effort to revitalize downtown Pawcatuck and make it as attractive as neighboring Westerly which has undergone a renaissance with shops and restaurants. While downtown Pawcatuck has seen a few successes such as the building that houses Mel’s Downtown Creamery, there are still vacant storefronts and a few blighted buildings.

The Grain building has frontage along the Pawcatuck River and for years town officials have envisioned a pedestrian walkway across the Pawcatuck River connecting it with Westerly in the bustling area of High and Canal streets. This would create a walking loop through the downtowns with the Pawcatuck River bridge.

j.wojtas@theday.com