ThisWeek Community Newspapers

Thursday, April 5, 2007

By MARLA K. KUHLMAN
Independent Staff Writer

The Captain Scott House is expected to be moved in the next week, according to the Friends of the Captain Scott House Committee.

Donna Herring, who chairs the committee of the Alexandria Community Council, said today (Thursday) would be the earliest move date, but it will most likely be moved late next week.

While preparations were beginning for the relocation of the house, Dingey Movers discovered on March 27 that someone had attempted to steal the fireplace surrounds over the weekend.

"The mantles were lying on the floor next to each of the downstairs fireplaces," Herring said. "Some of the other pieces were loose. We knew we'd have to get them out right away or risk the thieves returning for them, so we called everyone we knew who might know someone who might know how to get them out without damaging them."

With the help of the Licking County Historical Society, the fireplace surrounds have been successfully removed and placed in storage elsewhere.

"Most people who see them think they are real Italian marble, carved and stained," Herring said. "Actually, they're an example of a now-rare art form, faux marble finish of slate."

Dingey Movers had recommended removal of the chimneys, which were unstable and in part already collapsed or partially removed, prior to moving the house.

"So we were considering what to do and the thieves made up our minds for us," Herring said.

The Dingey Movers crew began excavating around the foundation last week and will start lifting the house this week. The structure will be moved to its new location, mainly traveling a cross-country route along the Raccoon Creek flood plain, over the creek, and up to the former Brookside Dairy barns.

The Friends of Captain Scott Committee raised enough pledges to meet the March 16 deadline to relocate the house, which now sits at the corner of state routes 37 and 161.

Following a successful Civil War Supper and Auction March 10 that raised $9,300, the committee received $5,000 pledges from both American Electric Power and Park National Bank.

The pledges made it possible for the Alexandria Community Council to sign the house mover's contract and meet the Ohio Department of Transportation's (ODOT) March 16 commitment to move the house. Its current location is in the path of phase two of the state Route 161 widening project.

More money is still needed to complete the relocation, but Herring said the once-grand Victorian home is no longer in danger of demolition.

"(Donations) are coming slowly," she said. "We'll need to plan another fund-raiser in May, I think."

About $12,000 is needed to cover costs associated with the house-moving (tree removal, fence repair, utility temporary relocation and similar services). Current plans for the home, when relocated, include using it as a public museum and community center after its restoration.

The home was built circa 1870 for Joseph M. Scott, an outspoken abolitionist and locally prominent farmer and historian who was a captain in the Civil War. A classic example of the Victorian Italianate architectural style, the home was built on a grand scale and includes an original spiral staircase.

The village has no funds for a historic preservation project, and the Friends of Captain Scott committee of the Alexandria Community Council organized the effort to raise funds. The Alexandria Community Council is a nonprofit group active for over 75 years in support of community events and projects in the village and St. Albans township.

The $12,000 needed to complete the relocation phase of the project must be raised in the next month, and the second, restoration phase will begin when the house is stabilized in the new location.

Tax-deductible donations can be sent to the Alexandria Community Council, Friends of Captain Scott Committee, P.O. Box 234, Alexandria 43001. Herring, community council secretary, can be reached at 740-924-0516 or via e-mail at CaptainScott@AlexandriaOH.org.

For further information, see the Web site www.CaptainScottHouse.org.

<center>mkuhlman@thisweeknews.com