Looking from a distance like a silvery alien spacecraft, an eighty-three-year-old round barn, listed on the National Registry of Historic Buildings, was plucked from the earth and turtled along gravel roads for nearly two miles to its new home at the Twin Lakes Christian Center, on North Twin Lake near Rockwell City, Iowa.
The move, watched by hundreds under picture-perfect skies, took about an hour. An airplane circled low beneath puffy clouds that looked like cotton candy.
Moving a building 61-foot across on roads twenty-feet wide requires heavy equipment, skill and a little luck, but the trip went without a hitch. The only minor problem was a small tree at the camp entrance, which was quickly dispatched with a chain saw.
The corners were lined with people who came from as far away as Sioux City to watch the event.
"This is impossible," said one observer.
"I don't see how they do it," said another.
Because of rain-softened earth, the barn had to be pulled from its home site earlier in the week by a D7 bulldozer to a location near the road. Then, on Saturday, with the help of a massive New Holland 9384 tractor, it was gently coaxed to the road surface, where the rest of the trip was accomplished using a Mack semi tractor, which looked tiny in the shadow of the barn.
Word was given for the move to begin at 2 p.m., the exact time it was scheduled.
The movers had expected to achieve speeds near 20 mph along the gravel road, but recent rains keep the speed down to around 15 mph. The barn hovered over the ditches, reaching nearly to the fences on both sides of the road.
A special steering mechanism allowed the sixteen wheels beneath the barn to turn at the ninety-degree corners, but it was tight, and twice the barn had to be reversed to assist in the turn.
It was a festive atmosphere as spectators watched the Ron Holland Company movers negotiate the turns. Holland himself was there for the move.
The barn was built in 1920 as a dairy barn and also for the breeding of Percheron horses, by a farmer named Johnson, who thereafter was known as Round Barn Johnson'.
The building was purchased by Ernest and Regina Heins in 1941, and was used until 1992 by Milton and Mary Heins. In 1994 it was given to the TLCC by the extended Heins family.
The Heins family rode in two cars directly behind the barn.
"It's a bitter-sweet feeling," said Kristi Sharkey of Early, Iowa . "I used to sit for hours in the south window with the wind blowing in my face and dream of this being my own home someday."
"I'm glad it's going to the camp," said her sister, Kathy Matthews of Storm Lake , Iowa . "That way it will be around another hundred years." Sharkey and Matthews are Mary Heins daughters.
"This is just great," said Joel Rude, Executive Director of the TLCC. "Our vision of helping people live in Christ-centered simplicity, through a back-on-the-farm setting, prompted us to look for a barn that we could use, but God went beyond all we could imagine or think and provided this unique structure located almost within hay-pitching distance." meeting, worship and event space. "The first floor, where the cows and horses used to Rude said the haymow would be left open for recreation, meeting, worship and event space. "The first floor, where the cows and horses used to hang out, will be used for meeting space, nature center and classrooms," Rude said. "It also will be available to the public for community events."
The move took nearly nine years of planning and involved some major repairs on the barn and extensive work on the TLCC site where a concrete wall had been build for the foundation upon which it rests.
The barn's cupola was replaced in 1998, and the large, steep roof was shingled in 1999, a job that required two months.
Most work on the barn has been volunteered, Rude said. "But there is much more to do."
Some funding for the project came from Iowa Historical Resource Development grants, but most came from private donations.
"We still need more than $20,000 to finish the utilities and winterizing the barn," Rude said.
Heavy fleece blankets bearing an image of the round barn, T-shirts, polo shirts and other articles are being sold to assist in the funding effort.
"Restoration of the barn will make for a great attraction for Twin Lakes and will help to preserve a piece of Calhoun County heritage," Rude said.
Interested donors can contact the Twin Lakes Christian Center at 712-297-7714 or e-mail at (info@twinlakescc.com).
This barn is one of only four truly round barns built in the state of Iowa . Most barns to which people refer as round are multi-sided. True round barns are rare and have many unique structural qualities such as self-supporting roofs and larger storage capacities, according to information provided by the Calhoun Rural Electric Cooperative.
Marty RicKard Bio
Marty RicKard attended William Penn College , Iowa State University and University of Southern Mississippi , from which he holds a BS degree in journalism and photojournalism. He also has a Masters Degree in photography, in addition to the Craftsman, CPP, and A-ASP degrees. Marty spent two years as a technical writer for White Motor Company, and has worked for the Charles City Press, Mason City Globe-Gazette, and Davenport Times-Democrat. He was co-owner of the weekly New Sharon Star, where he was twice named Iowa Master Columnist for his article, which was syndicated in twenty Iowa newspapers. For more than a decade Marty's regular column appeared in the Professional Photographer magazine. He has been published in many other magazines and newspapers, including Writer's Digest, Writer Advice, Golf Digest, Resource Magazine, Picture, Range Finder, and Darkroom. In addition to his writing credits, Marty has won numerous photography awards, has lectured in 48 states, and has traveled internationally as lecturer, and judge. He was one of thirty from the U.S. to participate in the first cultural exchange with China in 1986. He currently is a regular columnist for Lens Magazine, and a full-time writer of fiction and poetry. He is the author of two poetry books and one volume of short stories. He is an entertaining speaker.
» left by Susan Thom(8,103) Susan Thom (62 days ago.)
hi marty,
how interesting is that?
the home i grew up in was over 100 years old and had been moved before my grandmother bought the duplex, (over 50 years ago) bathrooms had to be added later, i wish i could have watched that.
thanks for sharing, i was envisioning the process throughout the descriptive story.
best regards,
sue Respond to this comment
» left by Marty RicKard(2,456) Marty RicKard (61 days 23 hours ago.)
Dear Sue: If you are in the area, stop and see it. It is like most people, beautiful inside and out. Best, Marty RicKard
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