Historic Wichita house moves slowly, gingerly to its new home (+video)

The Betzen House moved closer to its final home Sunday as the 120-ton structure inched its way from 807 N. Topeka to its permanent location at 1250 N. Emporia.

It may take another two weeks before it is firmly set in place, said Dwayne Mastre of Unruh House Moving, but the 113-year-old house survived the giant move without any mishaps.

“Everything went super smooth,” Mastre said.

The Sunday morning route for the house was north on Topeka, west on Murdock, north on Broadway, east on 13th, south on St. Francis and west on 12th street onto the lot.

Until about two months ago, the house was at 715 N. Topeka. In order to make way for a new store expansion, QuikTrip bought the house and donated it to the Historic Preservation Alliance of Wichita and Sedgwick County, according to Greg Kite, president of the organization. An additional $125,000 was put into an escrow account to help with purchasing a new lot, moving and constructing a new basement and foundation.

The Victorian house features a crow’s nest, curved bays, pocket doors, Corinthian columns and a grand staircase.

“While the City Code only allows for moves at night from 1 a.m. to 7a.m., we have been given special permission by Brian Coon, the Traffic Engineer, to move the Betzen House during the day due to the shear size of the home at 2,800 sq. ft. and 240,000 lbs. as well as the complexity of the route in terms of power lines, traffic signals and trees,” Kite wrote last week in an e-mail to The Eagle.

City street and police crews were on hand at the site beginning at 4:30 Sunday morning, Kite said. Traffic signals had to be controlled at Murdock and Broadway; Westar Energy and Cox Communication crews worked to move the lines and poles. Property owners along the route signed waivers, Kite said. And crews with Cheapest Tree Work trimmed trees along the route to make sure the house passed safely.

The move officially began at 7 a.m.

“In a word, it could not have gone better,” Kite said shortly after 2 p.m., when much of the move had been completed. “All of these crews made what could have been a difficult proposition move smoothly.”

The top speed the house moved was 5 mph, Mastre said.

This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 7:51 PM with the headline "Historic Wichita house moves slowly, gingerly to its new home (+video) ."