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Blue Springs, MO —
First there was awareness that the Chicago and Alton Train Depot was slated for demolition.
Then there was community activism and effort.
And now there is The Move.
On May 21, the single story structure sitting forlornly off Main Street in Blue Springs will be lifted from its cement base, affixed with wooden beams and hauled slowly but surely a mere 15-minute walking distance to its new location in Central Park.
And all before noon.
At least, that’s the plan.
“I really don’t even know when they’re starting,” said Mary Potter, president of the Blue Springs Historical Society.
Tentative plans call for the depot to be uprooted before 9 a.m. before it’s transported along Main Street, due east, before it’s turned south on 11th Street and to its new home at Central Park, specifically right across the street from the Howard Smith Safety Building.
In terms of complexity, the job should be routine, Doyle Patton said. His company, Patton Building and House Moving Inc., has moved some pretty big structures during the last 15 years, including a three-story home south of Wichita, Kan.
“Weighed about 400,000 pounds,” Patton said Tuesday. “It was next to an old church. They needed the space for a parking lot.”
By comparison, the Chicago and Alton will be like sliding a loaf of bread out of the oven rather than a 20-pound turkey.
Potter said she’s excited to see the process, one that should begin early that Monday morning. Both the police department and utility workers will be present to direct traffic and lift one lone power line as the structure makes its way to its new home. A concrete slab, similar to the one the structure rests upon now, will be laid days earlier.
The cost of moving the structure is approximately $16,000, and Potter said most of the in-kind work associated with the structure is in place.
However, organizers still need someone to perform stucco work and insulation. They will also need to replace the roof.
“It’s amazing just how well it is preserved considering it hasn’t been used in years,” Potter said. “Some slight water damage.”
Whatever the damage, Patton is only concerned with moving the structure and getting it from one point to the other.
“I don’t anticipate any problems,” he said. “It’s a little old and deteriorated, but nothing really bad.”
Fifteen years ago, Patton was a production manager for a small construction outfit. When he purchased some homes, he hired a man to move some of them. When he retired, he approached Patton and asked if he was interested in the business.
First there was awareness that the Chicago and Alton Train Depot was slated for demolition.
Then there was community activism and effort.
And now there is The Move.
On May 21, the single story structure sitting forlornly off Main Street in Blue Springs will be lifted from its cement base, affixed with wooden beams and hauled slowly but surely a mere 15-minute walking distance to its new location in Central Park.
And all before noon.
At least, that’s the plan.
“I really don’t even know when they’re starting,” said Mary Potter, president of the Blue Springs Historical Society.
Tentative plans call for the depot to be uprooted before 9 a.m. before it’s transported along Main Street, due east, before it’s turned south on 11th Street and to its new home at Central Park, specifically right across the street from the Howard Smith Safety Building.
In terms of complexity, the job should be routine, Doyle Patton said. His company, Patton Building and House Moving Inc., has moved some pretty big structures during the last 15 years, including a three-story home south of Wichita, Kan.
“Weighed about 400,000 pounds,” Patton said Tuesday. “It was next to an old church. They needed the space for a parking lot.”
By comparison, the Chicago and Alton will be like sliding a loaf of bread out of the oven rather than a 20-pound turkey.
Potter said she’s excited to see the process, one that should begin early that Monday morning. Both the police department and utility workers will be present to direct traffic and lift one lone power line as the structure makes its way to its new home. A concrete slab, similar to the one the structure rests upon now, will be laid days earlier.
The cost of moving the structure is approximately $16,000, and Potter said most of the in-kind work associated with the structure is in place.
However, organizers still need someone to perform stucco work and insulation. They will also need to replace the roof.
“It’s amazing just how well it is preserved considering it hasn’t been used in years,” Potter said. “Some slight water damage.”
Whatever the damage, Patton is only concerned with moving the structure and getting it from one point to the other.
“I don’t anticipate any problems,” he said. “It’s a little old and deteriorated, but nothing really bad.”
Fifteen years ago, Patton was a production manager for a small construction outfit. When he purchased some homes, he hired a man to move some of them. When he retired, he approached Patton and asked if he was interested in the business.
“I figured why not,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of building movers left, mostly because of all the rules and regulations you have to go through to do it.”
The train depot isn’t an oddity; Patton said he moves a mixture of residential, commercial and historical structures. He once moved an 1874 school house in Leawood, Kan., which was a challenge because of its age and condition, but the Chicago and Alton should be a breeze.
Once the structure is in place and the basic repairs are made, Potter said she hopes to have artifacts from The Wall That Heals display kept in the baggage area. They are currently on display at the Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence.
She hopes the building will be open by October, but a complete finished product, like the Independence depot which took years to complete, is years away. Potter said the depot needs many items of historic railroad value.
“If we get it open in October, that will be impressive,” she said. “We’ll have started the fund drive, collected the money, moved it and then made the repairs in under a year.”
