# The biggest Buiding ever Moved **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2008, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821 "2008-09-16T10:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![harmonSmith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19adc/32.png) [@harmonSmith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonSmith)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821/1 "2008-09-16T10:49:19Z")
The Indiana Bell Telephone / SBC Building has a very interesting and eventful history. It was the site of the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church, which was destroyed in a disastrous fire. In 1906-1907 the Central Union Telephone Company Building was built on the site. In 1929, the Indiana Bell Telephone Company, which had purchased the Central Union Telephone Company, planned to build a new building. It was to occupy the site of the Central Union Telephone Company Building, the former Marion Club, and the old Indianapolis Telephone Company Building (a c.1860s-1870s mansion which had been remodeled for commercial purposes). Originally the company planned to demolish all three buildings, but architect Kurt Vonnegut, Sr. (father of the famed novelist) determined that the building could be moved to obtain its full life of service. The eight-story building weighed 11,000 tons and measured 101 by 34 feet. It was moved 52 feet south and then turned 90 degrees, then moved 100 feet west to face Meridian Street Eighteen workers using 100-ton jacks moved the building in 3/8-inch increments. The move began on October 14, 1930 and was completed on November 12. A special concrete mat was poured below the basement level and covered with large timbers and 600 tons of rail. The building moved on more than 400 rollers, and its occupants were not conscious of any motion during the move. It remains one of the largest buildings ever moved ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821/2 "2008-09-16T11:08:36Z")
Was a similar thing done with that old triangular building in NY that you see in loads of movies? ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821/3 "2008-09-16T14:54:54Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Was a similar thing done with that old triangular building in NY that you see in loads of movies? That would be the [Flatiron Building](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatiron_Building), now named for its distinctive shape but originally called the Fuller Building. Since it was built on its present location, there’s no reason that it would ever have been moved. Is there any particular reason you thought it might have been moved? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821/4 "2008-09-16T17:23:26Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > That would be the [Flatiron Building](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatiron_Building), now named for its distinctive shape but originally called the Fuller Building. Since it was built on its present location, there’s no reason that it would ever have been moved. Is there any particular reason you thought it might have been moved? I was watching a documentary a while back about an American guy who is building like a mini-town for his mum, taking old buildings and sometimes transporting them whole. During the doc.there was a historical reference to the kind of work he does, and I could have swore the building in the clip was that one you have linked to. But I was obviously wrong, and now I’ve had a look, the building I remember was a lot smaller than that. But it looked about as old, and a similar shape. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821/5 "2008-09-16T18:22:48Z")
[quote=“harmonSmith, post:1, topic:463821”] The Indiana Bell Telephone / SBC Building has a very interesting and eventful history. It was the site of the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church, which was destroyed in a disastrous fire. In 1906-1907 the Central Union Telephone Company Building was built on the site… (snip) Good Grief! Do you mean that people were inside the building while it was being moved??:eek: ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821/6 "2008-09-16T20:27:02Z")
> [@Jake](#): > > Good Grief! Do you mean that people were inside the building while it was being moved??:eek: I think it moved 3/8" per hour. They wouldn’t exactly have needed seat-belts. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![harmonSmith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19adc/32.png) [@harmonSmith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonSmith)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821/7 "2008-09-18T04:13:09Z")
Exactly the people were in the building during the move lol Principal Financial Group are moving his 44th floor building “Principal Tower” a couple run-down shacks a few blocks.Principal Tower, currently located at 801 Grand, has 45 floors and stands 192 meters at its highest point. It is estimated to weigh 379,083 tons. Completed in 1991, the HOK-designed building has dominated the Des Moines skyline for 17 years.if management doesn’t like the new site after trying it out a year or two, they will probably move the building back downtown some interesting house moving pictures [http://wolfehousebuildingmovers.com/](http://wolfehousebuildingmovers.com/) ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821/8 "2008-09-18T20:48:59Z")
Can this procedure be done on any type of building then, or does it depend on the kind of foundation it was built upon? ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821/9 "2008-09-30T16:09:23Z")
[Here](http://www.gthcenter.org/exhibits/graderaising/Buildings/G-59262FF3-4.htm) is a picture of Grace Episcopal Church in Galveston (Now Trinity Episcopal Church) being raised in 1926. Note that the entire building sits on wooden cribbing. After the town was destroyed by the 1900 Storm, the citizens of Galveston built a seawall and pumped in silt from the bay to raise the city an average of six feet. To raise the church, workers tunneled under the building and placed screw jacks. A drum was placed outside, and for each beat of the drum, the workers turned their screwjacks a quarter turn. **ivan astikov** , I’m reminded of the old adage that anything can be done, given enough time, thought and money. Homes and older stone structures are moved with some regularity. A skyscraper built on pilings would be problematic. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biggest-buiding-ever-moved/463821/10 "2008-09-30T16:26:48Z")
My wife’s old family home was moved a few blocks (after she moved out, her mother died, and her brother and she sold it). It was a weatherboard cottage, built on brick piers. I suspect that kind of building is one of the easiest to move.