Schoolhouse On The Move
Jan 13, 2012 @ 08:16 PM
A 19th-century one-room schoolhouse in the town of German Flatts was moved to a new location where it will be restored Wednesday morning.
The schoolhouse was originally located atop Shoemaker Hill and in preparation for the move, the one-room schoolhouse had been lifted onto a trailer.
While town Supervisor Frank Spatto called the process “nerve-wracking,” the move took place according to plan and without incident.
Beginning at 9 a.m., a caravan of vehicles traveled down Shoemaker Road to Griffin Road, continued down the hill before turning onto Route 5S to the German Flatts Town Park.
The schoolhouse measures 23 feet wide and over 26 feet high and was moved in one piece. Electric power, telephone and cable services were temporarily cut off to customers along the route as teams of county and town personnel and as employees of Time Warner Cable and Verizon worked to raise power lines so the schoolhouse could pass beneath.
Traffic in both directions on Route 5S was slowed to a stop for about 20 minutes as the truck pulling the schoolhouse maneuvered into the German Flatts Town Park.
Spatto said the town of German Flatts received a grant to dig the foundation for the school at — the next step in the process.
As additional grant money can be secured, he said, the project will proceed. Otherwise, the town will continue with maintenance and utilize volunteers.