FINDLAY, Ohio — For anyone who has had to experience moving, it can be a hassle.
Now imagine moving an entire building across town.
There was a little traffic congestion Tuesday morning in downtown Findlay, as what likely is the biggest wide load the city has ever seen made its slow crawl through the streets.
The unusual moving experience is what a local developer hoped would help solve a housing problem.
Yates Management partnered with Dingey Movers out of Zanesville to transport a two-story, 12-unit apartment building just under a mile and a half through downtown.
The building was moved from its location of nearly 40 years on Grand Avenue, down to the end of McPherson Avenue.
The building was set to be demolished to make way for the Findlay YMCA expansion.
With the high price of construction, Andrew Yates, of Yates Management, said it was less expensive to buy the existing building and move it than it would be to build new.
"We worked that out, so we were able to maintain a building for housing for Findlay, save them costs, and make the project viable. Believe it or not, the cost to move it, the prep is substantially cheaper than it would be to build that existing structure," Yates said. "This is up to code, less sprinklers in it. So once you factor that in, it just made more sense to move this building than it would be to build that whole section."
As the load moved into Main Street, plenty of people came out of their buildings and cars to see the rare sight.
"Well, I go to the 'Y' a lot, and I saw that big building and I wanted to see how they'd make it over to McPherson," onlooker Jerry Luth said.
While the work was slow going, especially on the turns, Yates says this project was important to not lose any existing local housing options in Findlay. Once in place on the south end of town, a few more units will be added as well.
"It currently had 12 units," Yates said. "At the new site we're going to add a full floor, so it will have 16 total."
A new location, another floor and quite the story to tell.