Historic liftoff: Alexander Hamilton
home is moved inside Harlem park
Sunday, June 8th 2008, 4:00 AM
McDermott/AP
Harlem home once owned by Alexander Hamilton is carefully moved to St. Nicholas Park.
Talk about moving day.
After years of preparation, Alexander Hamilton's historic Harlem home hit the road Saturday and was gingerly steered several blocks away to its new home inside St. Nicholas Park.
"This is the most interesting thing that's happened in the neighborhood!" exclaimed Frezell Williams, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1975.
Hundreds of residents and history buffs turned out to catch a glimpse of the spectacular move, which kicked off about 7:30 a.m.
First,
a small army of engineers and construction workers hoisted the
206-year-old home nearly 40 feet in the air to squeeze it over the
porch of the nearby St. Luke's Episcopal Church, which has flanked the
wooden home since it was first moved back in 1889 to save it from
demolition.
"It was a really, really big job," said Tadeusz Bogdan, 49, a worker with Longwolfe Home Movers from Bernville, Pa., which orchestrated the delicate move.
"We've done it before, but this job was No. 1."
The
298-ton home was then lowered onto a series of dollies that
painstakingly inched their way around the block to the northwest corner
of the park.
"It's all done by remote control," said Stephen Spaulding,
an architectural preservation specialist with the National Parks
Service, which is overseeing the $8.4 million move and restoration.
Meanwhile, history advocates are continuing to battle the project in court .
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