Built in 1904 and standing in the way of the Urban School’s Academic and Athletics Center expansion project, the entire 2,850-square-foot home at 1637 Oak Street has been lifted onto a temporary track and is slowly headed east.
The home should come to rest upon its new foundation by the end of the day, clearing the way for a 63,000-square-foot facility to rise at 1639 Oak.
The Urban School is aiming to open the doors to the new building in September of 2016.
UPDATE: 1637 Oak is now in place above its new foundation:
Awesome.
I can imagine how much dust has accumulated under it all these years.
Will the house be used as a private home or incorporated into the school?
The home will continue to be owned and utilized as an office for St. Agnes Church.
The thought of buildings sliding to the side and extensions sprouting from the roof of other buildings reminds me of Dark City. Worth seeing if you enjoy the other SF or Film Noir. And if you like science fiction noir then you’ve got to see Dark City.
I loved DARK CITY! Awesome movie with great villains!
In 1930, the 8 floor Indiana Bell Telephone headquarters building was moved 52 feet in one direction, rotated 45 degrees, and then moved an additional 100 feet without closing the building. The process took about one month and employees showed up for work everyday during the move process with full electrical, water, and sewer service uninterrupted. Amazing feet of engineering for the time.
That’s fabulous!
I would keep sliding a few blocks until safely out of the fog zone.
UPDATE: 1637 Oak is now in place above its new foundation as newly pictured above.
The St Agnes-owned building that is used as a community space is the one just east of the building that has just been moved. That S.A. building had a parking lot on its west side, which is where they have placed the moved building. St Agnes offices are in the rectory which is on Masonic.