If'n you're gonna steal stuff, don't tell nobody!!!


Seriously, it can be heartbreaking to watch "perfectly good" stuff go to rack and ruin. It can't hurt to make some kind of offer, but if the building is in that desperate of shape, the owner would be acting reasonably and responsibly to refuse access for salvage purposes. You might have to offer a waiver of some sort (sometimes called a "hold harmless" agreement) that would assure him he wouldn't be liable for injury.
I read an article about the "house rustlers" last time I was out in Nebraska, and was suitably horrified myself. Here in the northeast, there's been a nasty rash of theiving wrought iron gates from graveyards over the last decade or so. Now, that's evil.So are the cactus rustlers in the southeast.
But yes, catya, it's perfectly natural to dream of saving such resources, and I, for one, forgive you for being tempted.
As far as public good, a number of communities have created "deconstruction" programs that provide jobs, training, and recycling as an economic development program.