Moving a Barn
Posted by Bill Whitney on March 7, 2007 - 10:14 AM
On Saturday, February 10, 2007, as I and a number of volunteers cut cedar trees at Griffith Prairie, it was difficult for me not to keep looking to the west against the cold and blowing snow to see an enormous barn roof sitting atop its new foundation. This was the culmination of 27 years of thinking about a place along the Platte River where people could gather to learn and enjoy prairie bluff surroundings. As envisioned in 1980 it would become a place for children to explore nature, as well as a gathering place for information and discussion about natural resources and regional community development, among many other things. The design would fit the landscape and feel good to be around. We don’t know yet how the building will appear when finished, but it was our architect, Lee Schriever, who responded at being applauded by the audience upon his introduction at the groundbreaking, that maybe we’d better wait to see the finished product before clapping. Based on the design of the Sands barn and its new foundation, it looks very good at this point. Of course there is much to do to see this vision for the center completed. We still have to raise more money for the building and to develop more programs. But the center is now tangible.
The move began when Williams Midwest movers out of Hastings started placing beams and hydraulic jacks under the barn roof at the Larry Sands farm a few miles southwest of Griffith Prairie. This finally led to a semi truck tractor pulling it away from its home of perhaps 90 years to its new home. The move was surreal to me. I had asked Larry about the possibility of incorporating the barn into our center in 2003. I had gone over the travel path dozens of times in my head trying to convince myself that there was room everywhere to get the barn past obstacles, but in some way never believing it could really be done. I was anxious to get the concrete floor poured before winter set in – then the framing. Even upon final preparation of the foundation it seemed an abstraction to me. As the barn traveled over frozen cornfields, over what I thought were impassable bumps and through the tight spots, I finally became more confident that moving it was in fact possible and finally happening!
There was an entourage following the barn throughout the day of the move – almost like the circus coming to town. Live, it was a spectacle to see such a great geometric shape flow over the open land - even in slow motion (the video is, however, a bit too slow). As it lumbered through the Griffith farmyard the spectators were all laughing and having a good time. Dogs were running under the building, kids were in awe, lots of people were taking pictures, including the local newspapers. When the barn arrived on its site, instead of backing on the level ground into its level nook beside the foundation, the driver took it to the top of the prairie hill and turned a 180-degree turn like a slow moving top. He then brought it down for the landing. No sweat! Williams movers were amazing to watch and a veritable pleasure to work with.
The following day the movers rolled the roof over the foundation and sat it down perfectly. Harry Eckerson victoriously screamed “touchdown” at this point, which alarmed the workmen to a momentary standstill because they thought something bad had happened. It fit the outer perimeter walls and the roof-supporting columns inside lined up with our framed supports, much to Lee’s satisfaction. When pushed, he did confess to some anxiety leading up to the event. As a few helped Lee brace and attach the newly touched-down barn to the foundation, the movers slid their beams out and gradually packed up and left. I went out to hail and thank them before leaving and saw the place becoming empty again. It left a brief emptiness in me that I will probably not forget. Again to use the circus image, it was like when everyone packs up the big top and we’re left only with the memories of a truly momentous occasion.
Beginning the previous January we decided the time was right to begin the center and it was necessary to spend considerable time planning the details of preparing the foundation to receive the roof. We notified architect Schriever in early February 2006, that we were ready. He said all the final details and approvals (e.g., fire marshal) could take eight or nine months. As it turned out, in early July Lee finished the necessary drawings allowing us to get bids for the concrete and insulated concrete form (ICF) work. We were able to find concrete and ICF contractors and Rob Roberts, a local earth-moving contractor agreed to excavate the foundation. He started digging in mid-October. This was followed by footings, walls, volunteer ICF project, pylons, floors and framing – most done in favorable winter weather. We were ready by mid-January, the mover was ready by early February, and as it turned out Southern Power was ready on February 8 to drop four lines in the path. This was a relief since the New Year’s ice storm raised concerns that the power company wouldn’t be ready. Miraculously we had the coldest February in years, which allowed the barn to travel through frozen corn and bean fields that were to become mud a week later.
So we move forward from here to finish the building. It has been a great victory, and one won with heroic effort by our members, staff, board of directors, volunteers, contractors and friends. My hope is that the rest of the project will continue on the same trajectory as the first part - with volunteers becoming a living part of this building from the initial hole in the ground to the last drop of paint. That is an important step to making the eventual programs just as alive and important. This was a barn raising. Perhaps it was unlike any other, but it contained the same optimistic spirit of our rural ancestors when they gathered to raise a barn. Barns were meant to foster and shelter and nourish the life of the land. Our move was a bridge from one era to another – from one land culture of the past to a new one in the making. May the Sands barn in its new life help us all cultivate a vital connection to our land and community.
