FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (March 29, 2007):
---Photos available---

THIEVES FOILED AT CAPTAIN SCOTT HOUSE

When Dingey Movers showed up Tuesday to begin preparation for the relocation of 
the Captain Scott house, it was discovered that someone had attempted to steal 
the fireplace surrounds over the weekend.

“The mantles were laying on the floor next to each of the downstairs 
fireplaces,” said Donna Herring, chair of the Friends of Captain Scott 
committee of the Alexandria Community Council, “and some of the other pieces 
were loose. We knew we’d have to get them out right away or risk the thieves’ 
return for them, so we called everyone we knew who might know someone who might 
know how to get them out without damaging them.”

With the help of the Licking County Historical Society, the fireplace surrounds 
have been successfully removed and placed in storage elsewhere. “Most people 
who see them think they are real Italian marble, carved and stained. Actually, 
they’re an example of a now-rare artform: faux marble finish of slate,” said 
Herring.

Dingey Movers had recommended removal of the chimneys, which were unstable and 
in part already collapsed or partially removed, prior to moving the house. “So, 
we were considering what to do and the thieves made up our minds for us,” said 
Herring.

The house is being moved to make way for the Ohio 37/161 widening project of 
the Ohio Department of Transportation. Land for a new site has been donated on 
the west edge of the village of Alexandria, and much of the construction of a 
basement and other infrastructure in the new location has been offered in-kind 
as well. Donations are still needed for the relocation, including about $12,000 
in expenses associated with the house-moving (tree removal, fence repair, 
utility temporary relocation, and similar services). Current plans for the home 
when relocated are that it would be used as a public museum and community 
center after its restoration.

The Dingey Movers crew is currently excavating around the foundation and will 
begin lifting the house next week. The structure will be moved to its new 
location the following week, mainly cross-country along the Raccoon Creek flood 
plain, over the creek, and up to the former Brookside Dairy barns. 

The home was built circa 1870 for Joseph M. Scott, an outspoken abolitionist 
and locally prominent farmer and historian who earned his captainship in the 
Civil War. A classic example of the Victorian Italianate architectural style, 
the home was built on a grand scale and includes an original spiral staircase. 

The Ohio Department of Transportation gave the house to the Village of 
Alexandria on condition that the structure be contracted to be moved by March 
16, and is actually moved very shortly thereafter. The Village has no funds for 
a historic preservation project, and the Friends of Captain Scott committee of 
the Alexandria Community Council organized the effort to raise funds. The 
Alexandria Community Council is a nonprofit group active for over 75 years in 
support of community events and projects in the village and St. Albans 
township.

The $12,000 needed to complete the relocation phase of the project must be 
raised in the next month, and the second, restoration, phase will begin when 
the house is stabilized in the new location. Send your tax-deductible donations 
to the Alexandria Community Council, Friends of Captain Scott Committee, P.O. 
Box 234, Alexandria OH 43001, or contact Donna Herring, Secretary of the 
Alexandria Community Council (740-924-0516), email CaptainScott@AlexandriaOH.org. 

For further information see the website www.CaptainScottHouse.org.