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 (May 4, 2007): ---Photos and video available--- CAPTAIN SCOTT HOUSE HAS COME TO REST The 140-year-old Captain Scott House has completed its historic move, from the corner of state routes 37 and 161 to an idyllic spot a mile further north on SR 37, on a former dairy farm just west of the village of Alexandria. Space for the relocated grand Italianate Victorian home has been donated by Brookside Materials/Kurtz Brothers, a Columbus-area sand and gravel company. The house's journey started April 22nd, on a clear Sunday morning with spectators gathering as early as an hour and a half before the announced moving time. That day, the house moved about 1200 feet down SR 37 to the first farm drive, then continued northwest across fields, over ditches and hedgerows. The plan was for the total trip to take about four days across three farms. After the second day of travel the house had reached the third farm, but weather forced the Dingey Movers crew to wait out several days of rain plus extra days for the fields to dry. On April 30, the house continued across Raccoon Creek. "I know many people wanted to see that crossing," said Donna Herring, chair of the non-profit Friends of Captain Scott committee that organized the effort to save the house from demolition. "But the landowner is in the mining business and very safety conscious. Crowds practically by definition are just not safe. We were very reasonably asked to mark the farm 'no trespassing' and keep people away from the crossing." "The crossing was actually probably the most dangerous part of the move," said Herring, "because they built a temporary bridge out of nearly two dozen steel H-beams laid above the banks. The beams were braced and tamped and wedged, but if any of them had loosened or twisted under the house it could easily have killed someone." On May 2, the house arrived at the top of the hill at the dairy. "That's a pretty steep hill for hauling up a 150-ton house that's over 80 feet long," said Herring, "and they had to pull with two semi trucks plus a grader to cover that last hundred feet." The house was moved to make way for the 37/161 widening project of the Ohio Department of Transportation. Two barns and silos are being demolished to make way for the house, and an 1840s timber-framed barn is being dismantled to be removed and re-erected elsewhere. Much of the construction of a basement in the new location has been pledged in-kind, though about $13,000 in donations are still needed to complete the relocation. Once the house is stabilized in its new location the restoration phase of the project will begin. "The Captain Scott House is presently 'parked' on wheels and cribbing," said Herring, "and while the barns are being removed we'll be working on the final site plan, permitting, and basement construction planning. While it's up on cribbing is also the time to replace a few sections of sill that were rotted out behind the porches, repair some of the siding boards, and replace a few pieces of window trim that are missing." "We need to make our repairs and get the house down on its new basement as fast as we can so we can have the exterior painting done by Fun Days," said Herring. Fun Days is a carnival and homecoming event held 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 is ready to prep and paint when we are, and with Pittsburgh Paints and American Crane they have donated their services and materials for the entire exterior paint job, a huge undertaking." 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 removed to storage prior to the move, in part so they would not be damaged in the move and in part because 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 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 $13,000 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.