On Monday, the 3,000-ton, three-story Odd Fellows Hall was 11 feet off the ground.
The building is painstakingly being raised in anticipation of moving it across Market Street. The move, as well as the planned purchase of the nearby Shubrick Building, will open up space just west of the Frank E. Moss U.S. Courthouse at 350 S. Main St. for a new courthouse.
Workers had hoped to relocate the building by the end of this month. But it now appears the move will be finished closer to November or December.
Despite the time-frame change and a crack that developed on the building's southeast corner, the move is going "very well," according to Alan Rindlisbacher, director of corporate marketing for Sandy-based Layton Construction.
More than one-third of the 11-foot timbers that help secure the building have been placed during the past month, Rindlisbacher said. The crack was shored up and a stairwell in the southeast corner was installed early to stabilize the area, he said.
After workers finish jacking up the building and digging out the foundation, they will place 56 dollies underneath, which will be operated by a master hydraulic control unit that will synchronize their movement.
The hall will be rolled a little to the west, then rotated 180 degrees. After the foundation is filled in, it will be moved back to its original location.
The building will then be moved across Market Street and east to its final destination. Restaurants on Market Street will remain open. The General Services Administration, the federal government agency in charge of government property, is paying $5.9 million for the move.
If all goes as planned and Congress allocates construction money in fiscal year 2009, the new courthouse would be open in April 2012.
