WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A piece of South Florida history was on the move Sunday morning ... literally.
Crews relocated a historic house from its home in the Hillcrest Neighborhood on Fern Street to its new location in the Historic District on Ardmore Street. The trip included going down South Dixie Avenue.
The president of Modern Movers, Pat Burdette, says the home is at least 90 years old and had to be removed after a developer bought the property.
Instead of it being demolished, will be renovated as a residence.
It is the second time it is being moved and turned into a residence.
The house crawled only a mile down the road at a pace of 2 miles an hour — when it is on the move — but that even is no easy task.
"I had to coordinate with everyone involved," Burdette said. "There are three different cable companies, FPL. Parks construction is handling all the signals. We have some of the mast arms, spans, and some of the street lights."
West Palm Beach police handled traffic control.
Burdette says the house weighs about 160 tons or about four fully loaded tractor-trailers.
Because of the project, Norton Museum, at 1450 South Dixie, was closed for the day.
In October 2020, a 1920s-era rooming house was moved from downtown's east side halfway at 801 Fourth St. The house was left on Banyan Boulevard between Quadrille Boulevard and Rosemary Avenue for one day and was finished on Monday, disrupting traffic.
