Czech museum site constantly evolving as work continues toward move

Site work is quickly progressing to prepare for the relocation of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

“It changes in a hurry,” said Tom Amosson, president of Rinderknecht Associates of Cedar Rapids, the general contractor for the project.

Round-the-clock work to move fill dirt was completed during a continuous 2  1/2-day session in late December.

Crews from Schmitt Construction of Cedar Rapids  unloaded 7,000 cubic yards of dirt to raise the grade from 718 feet above sea level to 721.5 feet.

The parking garage will go on that level, with the museum 12 feet higher, above the parking.

Amosson said because of frost in the ground, the continuous field work was the most effective method. Crews otherwise would have had to remove 6- to 10-inches of frost at the beginning of each work day.

“You can't put fill over frost,” he said.

Work on the deep foundation system has started, with rammed aggregate piers. With the system, rocks are super-compacted into the ground to stabilize the soil.

Insulated blankets are covering the site to keep frost off the ground.

“You have to be creative in the winter,” Amosson said.

In May, the museum, at 30 16th Ave. SW., will be relocated from its site on the banks of the Cedar River to the elevated spot, about 600 feet away.

A new addition will be built, bringing the building to 50,000-square-feet.

The cost to move the 15-year-old building is $713,000, compared with $2 million to demolish and rebuild the structure.

Jeremy Patterson Structural Movers of Washington, Iowa, was contracted for the move, which will take about three days, at an eighth of a mile per hour.

The museum received $10 million in state I-JOBS funding and a $2.9 million Vision Iowa Community Attraction and Tourism grant for the work.

Cameras have been set up to watch the site preparation and move that can be seen on the museum's web site:

www.NCSML.org