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Polson home goes on road trip
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POLSON – Where there once stood a cute little white cottage with blue trim is now just an empty 50-foot lot. The space is located in downtown Polson between the Showboat Cinemas and the Payne West Insurance buildings.
At 9 a.m. on Friday morning, crews from Abel Moving and Rigging out of Arlee began launching into the very slow process of preparing the little house for relocation to the 1400 block of 7th Street East.
Built in 1943, the house served as a family dwelling up until the early 1980s when a local dentist converted it into his business workspace. From a lingerie shop to the Polson Chamber of Commerce, the house at 418 Main Street has had numerous uses.
In recent weeks, crews began prepping the house for transport by using hydraulic equipment to lift it five feet off its foundation so that steel beams could be inserted underneath and massive wheels attached.
By mid-morning, the house was slowly creeping inch-by-inch down Main Street as it was being pulled by a semi-truck for a couple blocks before turning east on 7th Avenue, then south on 1st Street up the hill past the hospital until turning on 16th Avenue East before stopping at its new location. Although the move was just a little more than a mile away, it took more than two hours to complete.
It will be another month or so before the house will be move-in-ready for new owners Dick Bratton and Sandy Farrell. A new foundation will be poured and utility connections like electrical, plumbing and sewage are reattached.
