By Ed Shannon, Between the Corn Rows

While doing research on the former part of Albert Lea once known as Grove Avenue, a somewhat unusual memory of the past was revived.

One of the homes on this street that was partly demolished to make room for the expansion of Naeve Hospital in the early 1970s was the Watland place. I use the word partly because several portions of this outstanding Victorian residence were salvaged and recycled. Anyway, this particular home was pictured in the Lifestyles articles in the May 4 and May 18 issues. And in the May 18 issue the aerial view of this particular part of the city showed there was another residence behind the Watland place right next to Fountain Lake.

This specific home was by 1972 the John Nolander residence. In previous years the residence had been associated with both the Watland and Jorgensen families. Unlike the other homes on Grove Avenue which faded away, this particular residential unit was relocated to another location.

How this relocation was done involved some real planning and careful house moving.

Part of the process was based on cutting off the electrical and telephone line connections. (And today there would also be a disconnection of the cable service line.) Another part of the preliminary moving process would be to disconnect the water, sewer and gas pipes.

Then there was the challenge of breaking the connection between the house and its foundation. This was done with careful coordination with the use of several hydraulic hoists. As the house was raised, beams were placed under the structure. In time, the

equivalent of

a platform or temporary foundation with wheels was under the house. At this point it was carefully pulled off the former location and slowly started off on its journey to the new site.

I&8217;m not sure just what route the Nolander residence took on the first part of its route through Albert Lea. I have a hunch it was on Fountain Street to Washington Avenue, then likely south to College Street and over to Broadway Avenue.

I do know this large two-story house went down the slope near the courthouse and what was then the power plant and on across two sets of railroad tracks. The slow moving house, pulled by either a tractor or large truck, continued south on Broadway across another set of railroad tracks and on County Road 18 for about three miles before going right on a driveway to its present location on a small knoll.

As this house moved along, several crews from Interstate Power Co. and the telephone company were working to raise utility lines to provide clearance for the roaming residence.

The crew from the house moving firm kept close check on the house as it progressed through the city and out into the country to make sure it stayed on its equivalent of a trailer.

Also involved in this house moving venture was the police department to control the traffic flow.

During my research on the former Grove Avenue homes, I was informed that one or two of those residential units may have been moved to the north side. More specific information about this would be appreciated and shared with our readers.

The topic of moving buildings reminded of a Tribune article I wrote about St. James Catholic Church in Twin Lakes about 20 years ago.

In February 1950 the Twin Lakes church was destroyed by fire. A short time later the members of Pickerel Lake Concordia Lutheran Church, located about eight miles away, were planning to tear down their wooden place of worship and replace it with a new building. An agreement was made to purchase this Lutheran church building and move it to Twin Lakes to serve a new congregation.

To enhance my article about the Twin Lakes church, I asked the pastor of the Pickerel Lake church if a photo of their older building being moved to Twin Lakes was available. He said this request would be mentioned at the Sunday service. As a result, I had a fine photo by Monday afternoon to illustrate those articles.

Ed Shannon&8217;s column has been appearing in the Tribune every Friday since December 1984.