Three motorized dollies straddled the centerline of Newburgh’s Water Street one cloudy December morning. On top of the dolly rig was a series of metal beams, and on top of them was the Little Red Brick House.
People poured out of their homes, and Newburgh Elementary fourth graders made the trip to see the small spectacle roll.
Crews from Vectren, WOW, Spectrum, AT&T, and the Newburgh Street and Police departments coordinated to ensure a safe move for the nearly 150-year-old building.
Its hand-chiseled limestone features and locally kiln-fired bricks pushed onward from its storied past as a residence, icehouse, tack shop, and mortuary museum at 519 W. Jennings St. It had been restored by Virgil Simpson, changed hands, and was donated to the town.
Finally at the Old Lock and Dam Park, Wolfe House and Building Movers placed the Little Red Brick House in its new home.
There, the Town of Newburgh Arts Commission plans to convert the house into a ticket booth and concession stand for the proposed Newburgh Riverfront Pavilion Complex.
“We coordinated the exact location of the new site with preliminary amphitheater designs, and as a result of the house moving, the amphitheater project has taken off,” says Dr. Jim Renne of the Newburgh Historic Preservation Commission. “The house and the amphitheater sort of selected each other.”
For more information about the Newburgh Riverfront Pavilion Complex, please call 812-853-2815 or visit historicnewburgh.org.
