The cost had to have been huge to move this barn.
I know of two local, historical farms that recently got sold off to developers in my area. The townspeople wanted the city to preserve the barns on the properties and turn them into learning centers and parks. Together private and public organizations were working together to do just that until they both mysteriously burned to the ground on the same night last year.
Think of what you could have done with all that barn wood.
M
Picture on the web site.
Posted on Wed, Dec. 08, 2004
GRAND FORKS:
Moving on out
120-year-old barn stands on outskirts of GF once again
By Susanne Nadeau
Herald Staff Writer
It used to stand on the outskirts of Grand Forks, until the city grew around it.
But the 120-year-old barn that once was a landmark on the last farm within city limits moved Tuesday.
Today, it once again will rest on the outskirts of town.
City drivers Tuesday were witness to a historic moment as the barn labored through the western edges of town, eventually settling just north of Grand Forks.
It held up traffic and briefly took out power, phone and cable services, but the old barn held together well as it moved through the city.
Movers picked up the barn at 3617 17th Ave. S., where the last farmstead within city limits, owned by Marvin and Violet Birkholz, was put up for auction in May.
The barn had stood on the property for 30 years by the time Marvin's father, Fred, bought the 240-acre farm in 1915.
Until the auction, the farm had been Marvin's only home. In May, he and Violet moved into a townhome on the bank of the English Coulee, not far from the original farm.
A new home
From its home in southwest Grand Forks, the barn wound its way in and out of the northwestern city limits until it reached 4150 Columbia Road N., home to Lucy and Frank Matejcek.
"My husband's father was a friend of Marvin Birkholz, and we knew that they wanted the barn to go somewhere where it could be used," Lucy Matejcek said.
With plans to house cattle or horses, the barn will be a "twin" to the hip-roost style barn already standing on the Matejcek property. Lucy Matejcek said that their barn also was built in the late 1800s.
She said the existing barn at the Matejcek farmstead houses cattle and that the "new" barn will prove handy as spring and the calving season nears.
Getting the barn rolling
Planning for the barn's move took more than half a year, according to Matejcek. The Matejceks demolished an existing shed to make room for the barn, then trees were cut down around the farm to make way for the movers.
The building will have to be bolstered once there, and later, Lucy Matejcek said, they likely will put new siding and shingles on the barn over the next year.
"A little carpentry work and it should be OK. There might be a few other surprises when (the movers) get it down, but it should be just fine-tuning," said Matejcek.
The 30-by-60 foot barn is solid and sturdy, she said.
"It looks like it's in good shape, for an old beast," she laughed.
The barn only had one long pause during its trip Tuesday, and that was to wait until a power line could come down so it could be moved through.
A Minnkota Power representative said Carrington House Movers had to deal with at least 12 power lines, as well as several telephone and cable lines, to deliver the building. The building also moved past streetlights and had a police escort through town.
The historic building arrived at the Matejcek farm just before dark Tuesday.
Getting the barn to their home just was half the fun, Lucy Matejcek said.
Today, it will be lowered onto a foundation, then the Matejceks can begin repairing the historic building.
"It will be fun to work on it," said Matejeck.
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