ORLANDO, Fla. — A developer is moving a house through the Lake Eola Heights neighborhood Sunday morning.
Developer Mark Kinchla has big plans to get the 2,900-square-foot, 97-year-old house on the move.
Kinchla said he plans to use giant metal plates to protect the brick streets and diffuse the weight of the 100,000-pound structure.
“You know, I heard this week that we made it to Mars. So, I'm thinking it’s probably not that much of a chore for Pat Burdette, who's done it for 40 years,” Kinchla said.
Residents first became upset about it earlier this month when workers began cutting tree canopies to make room for the move.
“We're going to turn around and we're going to set the tires in the driveway there, slide them up underneath the steel,” Kinchla said. “And then we're going to turn it and take it out between the telephone pole and the tree.”
The house will travel from a lot on Broadway Street, where it's been since 1921, to it's new spot on Livingston Street in the heart of Lake Eola Heights.
Kinchla is making room for Fountain Vu 5 townhomes that will offer a view of Lake Eola.
He plans to live in the house once it's settled in its new spot a few blocks away.
But first, he needs to get the house rolling.
“Every one of these electrical services needs to be disconnected and we go underneath it and they reconnect it and go to the next one and disconnect it,” he said.
Kinchla said the home's current spot was carved out of the historic district so saving it wasn't required.
Kinchla transformed the Pentecostal church nearby into luxury townhomes.
The move is expected to take three hours. Kinchla said it will be safe and a spectacle he hopes the community will come out to watch.