Habitat for Humanity house finds new home

James Jonassen, of Jonassen Structural Movers of Hartville, drives the truck up the hill of Jackson Street as crews from local utility companies make sure the power, telephone and internet lines are securely out of reach as the house is moved up the hill. The house was built in 2012 at 409 Stadium to 1100 block of Jackson Street as a River CIty Habitat for Humanity home. The house was moved Thursday and after being placed, was raised and cribbage placed under it. A foundation will soon be poured under the house, and then it'll be lowered onto it.
James Jonassen, of Jonassen Structural Movers of Hartville, drives the truck up the hill of Jackson Street as crews from local utility companies make sure the power, telephone and internet lines are securely out of reach as the house is moved up the hill. The house was built in 2012 at 409 Stadium to 1100 block of Jackson Street as a River CIty Habitat for Humanity home. The house was moved Thursday and after being placed, was raised and cribbage placed under it. A foundation will soon be poured under the house, and then it'll be lowered onto it.

Thursday was moving day in Jefferson City for a River City Habitat for Humanity home.

Following days of preparation, the nonprofit moved a home from 409 Stadium Blvd. to its new site at 1206 Jackson St.

Several Habitat for Humanity volunteers stood by early in the morning to watch the process and answer questions from curious onlookers.

Norm Robinson performed tasks, such as asking a neighboring family to move their car off the street so it was out of danger of being struck by the ranch home, climbing Jackson Street from the street's intersection with Stadium Boulevard.

The home, which was mounted atop two large steel beams and pulled by a truck and skidloader, quickly made its way up the hill.

Habitat for Humanity built the vinyl-sided house in 2013. After the move, it is to be considered one of the homes Habitat for Humanity is building through its "Road to Recovery" program.

It came into the possession of the Jefferson City School District following the May 22 tornado that rampaged through parts of Miller and Cole counties. Following the tornado, the district purchased about 34 properties near Jackson Street for campus expansion around Jefferson City High School. The 409 Stadium Blvd. home remained standing in the midst of cleared land.

Community activists pushed for the district to return the property to Habitat for Humanity, which it did. The district sold the home to the nonprofit for $1.

It was then up to Habitat for Humanity to get support from Ameren Missouri and other utility providers who made room for the house to pass over or under their cables along the street.

Moving the home cost Habitat for Humanity about $20,000.

But the total cost of the home should come in well below the average cost of Habitat homes - about $100,000.

"It's exciting to save on an affordable home for a family," said Susan Cook-Williams, executive director of the local Habitat.

The Habitat for Humanity client who lived in the house before the tornado thought she'd grow old in the house, Cook-Williams said.

When she sold it, the client was able to pay off her loan and had a little money left over.

The client has shown interest in reapplying for the program and may receive a chance at buying the home again, Cook-Williams said.

Once in place Thursday, movers left the home about 3 feet above its finished grade so crews can pour a concrete basement underneath it, said Bob Scott, a Habitat for Humanity construction manager.

"Watching a house move is something you don't see every day. When they get it stuck on the foundation, then it's mine," Scott said. "We'll have to treat it like a 'rehab house.'"

Parts may shift or be damaged during a move, he explained.

Habitat for Humanity will possibly have to replace the roof and other parts.

A lot remained uncertain until after the move, he said.

Meanwhile, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, limited-size crews have been working on new homes Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, he said.

The nonprofit's Road to Recovery program is intended to expedite construction on four additional houses to the four or five it normally completes in a year. Road to Recovery is intended to help offset a housing shortage in Jefferson City that the tornado exacerbated.

"It's been moving along," Scott said. "It seems like things are starting to come together."

The moved home will not be ready for move-in until spring, Cook-Williams said.