CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) - Workers in Cedar Falls have moved the old Chamber of Commerce building from its riverbank location to its new home a few blocks away.
Some onlookers pulled up chairs and watched on Wednesday as the estimated 25-ton (23-metric ton) building was hoisted onto a truck and moved through downtown, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.
Aylsworth House Movers took about an hour to relocate the building. Workers removed the structure’s original brick during the transfer and will add new brick to match the new location.
“This was extremely wide to move in a city, its 47-foot wide,” said Ron Aylsworth, owner of the moving company. “You can imagine what that takes.”
The building will soon house Cedar Falls Community Main Street, a nonprofit that focuses on preserving the downtown area. The organization faced a storage shortage after losing space at another location.
The Western Home Communities charity owned the old Chamber property and is in the process of selling the land. The group decided to relocate and repurpose the building instead of tearing it down.
“We have been told it was built to move when it was originally built,” said Carol Lilly, executive director of Community Main Street. “This came together really fast.”
Western Home donated the building to Community Main Street, but the nonprofit will be responsible for moving costs and preparing the new site. The organization plans to install a basement, Lilly said.
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Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, http://www.wcfcourier.com
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