David Hubbard

Web Editor

A historical building of Brookings was moved through the streets on the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 22. The three-story apartment building, originally constructed for a banker in 1902, was relocated from its original location south of the Brookings’ Public Library to its new home of 144 Third Ave., west of Rental Depot.

The moving process of the historic building was completed by a cooperative effort between the City of Brookings and county of Brookings, in order to construct a new Brookings City & County Government Center. Stephanie Vogel, county commission assistant, said the entire project has gone, “relatively smooth,” despite rumors to the contrary. Vogel said the project is moving forward on schedule.

Kevin Grunewaldt, a 2002 SDSU graduate of the construction management program, owns the apartment building. Grunewaldt said earning a Bachelor’s of Science gave him the necessary tools to manage a project of this scale. “Networking with people … and learning how to estimate big and small projects,” in construction management helped prepare him for the task.

When factoring the size of the building, stationary objects like railroad crossing lights and passenger vehicles, were used to navigate the three-story building downtown required a small army of equipment and manpower to accomplish the goal.

“My only concern was sidewalks,” Grunewaldt said. He said the weight of the building could have easily crushed city walkways as the house was transported to its new location.

Dale Henderschiedt, construction supervisor for Brookings Utilities, said the moving company could have easily raised or lowered either side of the building in order to navigate through downtown Brookings without incidents. Henderschiedt said, “two power lines had to be temporarily disconnected, four streetlights were taken down and one traffic signal arm had to be swung out of the way,” to allow the building to pass. Henderschiedt said Brookings Utilities had been preparing for this move for weeks, rerouting power from the two lines crossing Main Street, so businesses and residents would not be affected during the actual move.

Vogel said the only issue during the move was complications created by the heavy down pour of the previous night, which caused the basement of the new location to be muddy and difficult to navigate.

Grunewaldt said he was concerned about the afternoon rain that could delay the placement of the apartment building at its new location.”The semi drove straight through the hole,” in order to put the house in its final resting place, Grunewaldt said.

The historic apartment building is currently awaiting a new basement. “The walls are not all true, so plumb-bobs were used to place the cement walls on the new footings,” Grunewaldt said. The building was placed at its new location on time by 5:30 p.m. The transport process lasted about ten hours from start to finish.

#1.1655475:2678783653.jpg:The historical building just behind the Rental Depot was moved from its original location.:The historical building just behind the Rental Depot was moved from its original location to make room for a new Joint City County Building.:Collegian Photo by David Hubbard