A moving experience for Union AME church

WARWICK - Next week Warwick residents will be treated to an unusual sight: The Union African Methodist Episcopal Church will be hoisted from its foundation, put on a truck and driven from its current location on McEwen Street to its new home on Forester Avenue. The last big building moved in the village was the current Village Hall. Originally the Reformed Church on Forester Avenue, it was moved about 100 years ago to where it stands now on Main Street. Dan Little of D.C. Little Incorporated, an excavating company, and Wayne Yarusi, owner of W.A. Building Movers, are working together on the UAME project. Little said moving isn’t as uncommon as people might think. “Moving buildings is actually very common,” said Little. “In the last two weeks we’ve lifted or slid six buildings onto new foundations.” Some of the moved buildings are private homes but many are historical buildings being preserved, like the UAME Church. “Nothing gets moved too far,” he said. “Usually, it’s just a few miles.” Little said he and Yarusi would begin their work today, Sept. 21, after a final meeting with the Warwick Historical Society Thursday night. The actual move preparation is what Little calls “packing for a trip.” “We have to make sure that everything is supported,” he said. “This is 100-year-old wood and 100-year-old nails.” So they will cut into the bottom of the church and see what needs to be done and they’ll stabilize any parts that are rotted. Then they will cut slots in the existing foundation and get underneath, finding the supports, and sliding Large steel rods underneath clamped them together “Basically, we build a framework underneath the church,” Little said. They then will shore up the inside of the building and remove all the windows and the steeple. “The windows are beautiful,” said Mayor Michael Newhard, who was one of the organizers of the effort to raise money for the move. “We certainly don’t want to break them during the move.” Then, the 40-foot-by-20-foot church will be moved slowly onto a truck with a hydraulic lift. “It’s all computerized,” Little said. “The church will be clamped to the trailer and the journey begins.” Traveling at only three miles per hour, the trailer will certainly stop some traffic. The ideal route would be through CVS parking lot, but the route hasn’t been worked out, Little said. The straighter the route the better, according to Little. When moving a building, you want to take as few turns as possible. Along the route, Orange and Rockland, Warwick Valley Telephone, and Cablevision will disconnect and reconnect wires, because the truck and building will be about 30 feet high. Finally, when it reaches Forester Avenue, the building will again be lifted and placed on a new foundation near the Shingle House. Current schedule calls for the move on Thursday, Sept. 27 or Friday, Sept. 28. Little said he wouldn’t be surprised if the moving date went forward to early the following week. They won’t be sure until they find out how much prep work will be required. When the congregation of the Union African Methodist Episcopal Church needed a larger church, they didn’t want to tear the old one down. And neither did the Town of Warwick Historical Society or Mayor Michael Newhard, among others. Instead, they started talking about moving the 101-year-old building. The organizers raised the funds privately. The original building will be preserved as an historical museum highlighting a permanent exhibition that focuses on African-American history in the Warwick Valley.