Building mover says train depots like Katy Station are harder to move than typical buildings
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Organizers announced the intent to move the Katy Station building earlier this month, and one mover says moving train depots can prove to be a difficult task.
The group Save the Katy Station met with a developer claiming it could move the building to a different location. Moving the building would cost $400,000, and donations will be made through the community.
Zack Hirt, an estimator with Wolfe House and Building Movers, has moved train stations in prior jobs and said the move is a lengthy process.
Prior to the move, Hirt said the movers would go over with the people wanting to move the building about logistics, including the permits they need to get from the city and how to make sure the building is prepped and ready for the move.
"I would say train depots are usually a little bit more challenging than your average house, usually due to size," Hirts said. "Most times they're in, you know, a heavily populated area such as like in the middle of town or something like that, instead of, you know, a house down the middle of the country."
Everything inside and around the building must be removed before the move, according to Hirt. Once the building is prepped, crews start by cutting access pockets into the building's foundation. Then steel beams are put in the foundation to form a crisscross framework underneath the floor to distribute the building's weight. Hydraulic jacks will lift the building off the ground, and dollies are installed underneath to move the building to a new location.
"Once the building is actually rigged and ready to move, a lot of these depots are not going far," Hirt said. "You can't go far with them because of their size. You're limited."
When encountering utility lines, they have to be moved temporarily, trees along the side of the road must be trimmed, signs need to be taken down, and the building has to fit between telephone poles Hirts said.
Previous reporting shows James Roark-Gruender, the organizer with Save the Katy Station, said the group has until between July-October 2027 to figure out where and how the building will be moved.
Hirts said he is familiar with the Katy Station building move. A few weeks ago, someone in the Save the Katy Station group contacted Wolfe for information and expressed interest in moving the building. Hirts confirmed they were not contacted after that.
Jack Maher 3, the owner of the property that Katy Station currently sits on, wrote in a statement to ABC 17 News that "the property remains under contract. Out of respect for the parties involved, we won’t be commenting further until the transaction is complete."
The City of Columbia's Community Development Director Clint Smith wrote in a statement, "We haven't received any applications for this property, so we won't have any statement on the situation from our office at this time."
Smith was also asked what permits and applications would be needed to move the historic Katy Station, and Smith said, "Once we have an actual application to respond to, we might be able to provide relevant information at that time."
