>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

MOVING DAY: This lovely, 108-year old Victorian home on S Avenue will be moved to Palmer Avenue on Monday, causing street closures along the route between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. - The Observer/MARDI FORD

The lady — a five-bedroom, two-story Victorian house — will be moved from its current location on S Avenue all the way to Palmer Avenue.

Norm Paullus, with the City of La Grande’s Public Works Department, said the move would begin at 8:30 a.m. He anticipates it will take approximately four to five hours.

It’s slow going when one is more than a century old. County records show the house was built in 1900, so she’s been pretty comfortable at her current address for a long time.

The carefully planned route will take the house up Monroe Avenue, right on Depot Avenue, then up Depot to Jackson Avenue. After traveling along Jackson several blocks the movers will turn left onto X Avenue, toward Second Street.

Then its left on Second heading south and over the Second Street viaduct. The movers will turn right at Jefferson Avenue, go one block, turn right again onto First Street and continue north until they reach Palmer. The house will be settled into a new lot on the corner of Palmer and First.

Dana Wright owns the old house and has contracted with The Wright Fix General Contracting to move it. He thinks the road closures that may impact people the most will probably be at 8:30 a.m. at the intersection of Fir and Monroe Street and S Avenue.

While Oregon Trail Electric crews deal with wires at the intersection, the closure could take up to 60 minutes. Another main closure will be while the house is crossing the Second Street viaduct, which will entail closing the intersections at each end for approximately 90 minutes.

The Observer/MARDI FORD

All of the intersections along the route will be closed anywhere from approximately 30 minutes to as long as 90 minutes.

“The house is 29 feet wide, and there will be pilot cars. So, it should be pretty obvious there is something blocking the road,” Wright said.

Wright, who works at Anderson Perry and Associates, obtained the house from the firm after it made plans to expand its offices onto the lot on S Avenue where the house now sits.

“They had talked about having it torn down. But it’s such a cool, old house — I hated to see that. There is a lot of character on the second story,” said Wright.

He plans to refurbish the house and will probably use it as a rental.