The home was moved as part of the Grant Regional Health Center expansion project that will get underway this summer.
Heritage Movers, Blue River, handled the move. Prior to the main move on Saturday, the firm lifted the house off its limestone foundation, then had to “spin” the house to properly prepare it for its move.
The home was acquired by Roger Ihm, who wanted to make sure such a large and distinguished home was not lost to history.
Ihm joked that “I was getting pretty bored” in his retirement as an airline captain last year. “I was looking for a new project.”
Ihm had seen the listing in the newspaper on the sale of the home, and waited a few days before contacting the hospital. “If no one else offers, I’ll do it,” remarked Ihm.
Ihm noted how Grant Regional wanted to see the home saved and came back and told him if he wanted it, it was his. No good deed goes unpunished, Ihm, quipped.
“Its way more complicated,” Ihm remarked two weeks before the move.
What is complicated? For one thing, its the coordination between the different entities that participate in this move.
The police department is involvved, dealing with the traffic and parking issues that pop up with an endeavor like this. Then there is the utility companies like Alliant Energy, which will have to disconnect and reconnect homes along the route as overhead lines are temporarily disconnected.
“Nothing has been easy,” Ihm remarked, noting that getting Alliant to set a date that worked was the biggest holdup for the move.
Fortunately, Ihm didn’t have to leave the county to find a firm to move the home.
Joking that he never moved a house before (how many have), he looked at what firms were available. While he received names of five different firms in the Midwest that have claimed to do such things, Heritage Movers of Blue River seemed to be the only one really active in the business.
With them onboard, Ihm also had to get other contractors onboard, like excavators, and figure out how the house would sit on a new property.
Oh, and there is the pesky thing of finding a lot.
“Finding a lot within the city limits is not easy,” Ihm continued. While there may be lots within the city, finding one they could move a home onto was almost impossible.
In fact, the lot that the home is moving onto didn’t exist before on its own. One idea in finding a space was to ask neighboring homeowners to sell a section off to Ihm in order to create a new lot, which is what is happening. “That part was easy,” Ihm explained on how he made that happen “ I walked up to the doors and knocked.”
It took a few times visiting to finally catch them at home, and after some negotiations, two half lots were found, and then taken to the city to make a new lot for the home.
“I grossly underestimated how much of a process this is,” Ihm reiterated about the project.
One of the big issues was how would it sit on its new home.
Due to the cost currently of concrete, Ihm ruled out a full poured basement for the home, quipping that the home is so large, there is plenty of space on the upper floors that a full basement was not needed.
Then Ihm started working with a firm to see about installing a pier and beam system that would hold up the house.
“That was too complicated,” Ihm responded.
In the end, the home will have a foundation holding it above the ground, underneath mostly being crawl space except for a small utility room below for the heating and water systems.
Now that it is moved, Ihm hopes that the home will serve another several generations of families as a one family residence.
“When it is finished it will be beautiful, perfect for a large loving family,” Ihm continued.
Ihm’s mission was to save the home, not live in it, and he does not plan to be a landlord either.
The home has a couple of kitchen areas on both floors, but Ihm is looking to sell the house once this project is over.
He hopes that the project will be completed by mid summer, and Ihm stated he already has had some interested parties reach out to him.
“This home would be ideal for a large family.”
Currently, the hospital is retaining the garage that had been on the residential lot with the home, to use for storage, including storage related to the upcoming construction project.