NEWS RELEASE

For further information contact:
Donna Herring, dmherring@earthlink.net, 740-924-0516
Karen Holt, karen.holt@yahoo.com, 740-924-9355

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (April 21, 2007):
---Photos available---

CAPTAIN SCOTT HOUSE MOVING SUNDAY MORNING

All permits are in place, the phone lines are dropped, the pipeline 
company is on notice, and the Captain Scott House is ready to roll off the 
site it has occupied for nearly 140 years, at the corner of state 
routes 37 and 161.

Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. the Highway Patrol will close SR 37 between 
SR 161 and Granville Street (Raccoon Valley Road) in the Village of 
Alexandria. The house, over 42 feet at its widest and 80 feet in its 
longest dimensions, will be moved north on SR 37 about 1200 feet to the 
first farm drive, then turned west into the field, which is currently being 
prepared to plant corn. Three days later, weather permitting, it will 
arrive at its new location on SR 37 west of Alexandria, having traveled 
about a mile over farm fields at a rate of 100-150 feet per hour.

The house is being moved to make way for the 37/161 widening project of 
the Ohio Department of Transportation. Land for a new site has been 
donated, and much of the construction of a basement and other 
infrastructure in the new location has been offered in-kind as well. About $7,000 
in donations are still needed to complete the relocation, and once the 
house is stabilized in its new location the restoration phase of the 
project will begin.

Three barns must be removed to make room for the house at the former 
Brookside Dairy location, now owned by Brookside Materials/Kurtz 
Brothers, a Columbus-area sand and gravel company. 'We were able to help 
Brookside find a buyer for the oldest barn,” said Donna Herring, chair of 
the Friends of Captain Scott committee of the Alexandria Community 
Council, the local non-profit group that is moving the house. 'And the 
big white barn nearest 37 will stay, it seems to be the one more people 
have sentimental attachment to.”

'While the barns are being removed, the Captain Scott House will be 
on wheels nearby,” said Herring, 'and we’ll be working on the 
final site plan, permitting, and basement construction. We only have 28 
days’ storage on the house mover’s equipment, and then we have to 
start paying a rental fee so there’s a good incentive to finish up this 
phase very soon.”

'Another good reason to get the house down on its new basement as 
fast as possible is that we have a donor for the exterior painting, and 
we’re aiming to get it done by Fun Days,” said Herring. Fun Days is a 
summer carnival and homecoming event in the Village of Alexandria, 
which raises funds for the township fire department and is scheduled for 
July 18-21 this year. 'All Aspects Coatings, of Newark, has donated 
their painting services for the exterior, and brought in their suppliers 
as donors too, including Pittsburgh Paints and American Crane. It’s 
just amazing how people like this step forward to give to the 
community.”

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 and stone fireplaces. The fireplace surrounds 
were recently removed to storage, after thieves attempted to dismantle 
and steal them. Current plans for the home when relocated are that it 
would be used as a public museum and community center after its 
restoration.

The Ohio Department of Transportation gave the house to the Village of 
Alexandria during the eminent domain procedure for the property, at 
request of the Village. The Village did not have funds for a historic 
preservation project, and has transferred the house to the Alexandria 
Community Council, which has raised the funds and in-kind donations for the 
project. 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 $7,000 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.