Getting ready to roll: Museum move will happen before and after Czech Village Houby Days

CEDAR RAPIDS - One of Czech Village's signature events will happen in the midst of the historic move of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

The museum's relocation will begin April 26, but movers will wait for the May 13-15 Houby Days festival to conclude before the building is set on its new foundation.

Gail Naughton, museum president and CEO, said movers did not want to interfere with the three-day festival, which takes place in the village on 16th Avenue SW.

“We're trying to be accommodating and not get in the way of Houby Days,” she said.

The 1,400-ton museum will be relocated from the banks of the Cedar River at 30 16th Ave. SW, just across the street to the former Riverside Roundhouse site.

According to the International Association of Structural Movers, it will be the largest museum ever moved.

The move already is attracting attention, with media inquiries coming from the Czech Republic and elsewhere, said museum spokeswoman Diana Baculis.

Naughton said museum representatives will meet with city officials to decide on street or bridge closings and other details surrounding the monumental move.

Two web cameras have been operating at the site to capture preparations and the move, but Naughton said people will undoubtedly want to see the event in person.

One camera, installed on the museum's clock tower, provides a south view, while the other is on a west side utility pole. Both cameras are recording one frame per second.

In addition to showing live action, the cameras will record the building relocation to produce a time-lapse video of the move.

Naughton said the building will be moved April 26 and 27 to its new site and positioned next to the building foundation.

Once the structure is secured, it will remain in place until May 17, when the building will be elevated to its final height.

The museum will then be rolled on to the new foundation and finally secured in place on May 21. The new museum should open in May 2012.

Workers with Jeremy Patterson Structural Movers of Washington, Iowa, are installing steel beams in the building to prepare for the move.

A crew with Rinderknecht Associates of Cedar Rapids, the general contractor for the project, is building the parking garage that will be underneath the museum. That will raise the building 11 feet above where it sits today and three feet above the level of the 2008 flood.

An addition will be built, bringing the museum to 50,000 square feet, with room for additional galleries, collection storage, a theater, enlarged programming space and museum store. The museum raised $25 million for flood recovery, which included $10 million from I-JOBS and a $2.9 million Vision Iowa Community Attraction and Tourism grant.

Baculis said the site will be secured during Houby Days. Museum staff will offer presentations about the move during the festival.

The museum also plans Houby Days activities at its Kosek Building, 87 16th Ave. SW, she said.

Calvin Spinka, co-owner of the Frame Trader, 72 16th Ave. SW, and vice president of the Czech Village Association, said the group will discuss the museum move at its next meeting in March.

“The village is looking forward to it,” he said. “It's a historic event. We should be taking advantage of it.”