The Old Stone Inn in the West End, which is more than 200 years old, has been nominated for city historic status, stalling demolition plans.

The inn, at 434 Greentree Road, will have to go through hearings by Pittsburgh's Historic Review Commission. The prospective owner, Harris Masonry Inc., had applied for a permit to demolish the building and was expected to receive one within days when John DeSantis nominated the property for historic status last week.

The first hearing on the matter is likely to be at 1 p.m., March 4 at 200 Ross St.

The owner of Harris Masonry could not be reached for comment, but Mr. DeSantis said he talked to a representative of the company and to the current owner, Mario Peticca, about his motive.

"And they both get it," said Mr. DeSantis. "They understand the historic importance of the building."

The building was a stagecoach stop early in its existence and has been the site of political rallies, dog fights and a lodging for, among other people, possibly Charles Dickens. It was a tavern until two years ago.

Mr. DeSantis said he heard last week that the building might be demolished and "was shocked, stunned that this could be happening. I called the historic review staff for an application because I thought this [demolition] just can't happen."

Mr. Peticca, who has owned the building since 1994, said he expects to close soon.

"I feel good about" the nomination, he said. "I tried for a year to get it into the right hands, and Art Merrell deserves all the credit for hanging in there for so long trying to put something together."

Mr. Merrell, an area resident, tried to get investors together to buy the building from Mr. Peticca, who lowered his price to help out. He said yesterday, "No matter what, I still needed to get money back for my personal life."

Mr. Peticca said a brick on one corner of the building is inscribed with the date 1756, but other documents contradict that it could have been built that early. Walter Kidey, the Pittsburgh History and Landmark Foundation's late historian, estimated the building to have been constructed in 1800.

Yesterday, Carnegie Library archivist Greg Priore confirmed that the archives contain a ledger of accounts from The Old Stone Tavern from 1793-1796. He said the ledger did not contain an address except for Pittsburgh.

Mr. DeSantis said he talked to a representative of the masonry company and was relieved to hear that there was no great need to raze the building; the company simply wanted to have that option.

"It's rare that an owner and prospective owner are as amenable to the idea [of preservation] as these," said Mr. DeSantis. "This is not the rock and a hard place that some of these situations can be."

He said this building's preservation is "a no-brainer. It needs a lot of work, but it was solidly built and its needs are not exorbitant."