Company behind museum move hails from 'down the road'

CEDAR RAPIDS - Leaders of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library didn't have to search far to find a mover capable of relocating the iconic building.

Jeremy Patterson Structural Moving & Shoring, headquartered just 60 miles south of Cedar Rapids in Washington, Iowa, is one of few companies that could handle such a monumental move.

“It was ironic to find out one of the biggest movers in the world is located just down the road,” said Gail Naughton, museum president and CEO. “It's nice working with an Iowa company.”

The business has grown from its start 18 years ago to employ 250 workers nationwide, including about 40 in the Midwest, 20 on the East coast and the remainder working on hurricane mitigation projects in Louisiana and Texas.

“If man made it, we can move it,” said company President Jeremy Patterson, 35, who was 17 when he and his father, John, started the business.

Now head of the second largest structural movers in the world, Patterson, whose training has all been on the job, is accustomed to the spotlight.

His company has been the subject of The Learning Channel show, “Heavy Haulers,” and holds numerous titles, including moving widest and heaviest structures.

“We're just the good looks behind the scene,” Patterson quipped of Discovery cameras - owner of TLC - that are recording the museum's move.

The company remains family-centered. His wife, Tonya, home-schools their 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter so they can travel together.

He estimated moving more than 5,000 buildings in his career.

Even as they travel, Patterson's heart stays connected to Iowa, which led to the museum job.

“Look at this,” he said, standing in front of the museum last month. “We'll move bigger; we'll move heavier, but we won't move a better looking building.”

Along with hundreds of other buildings this year, Patterson Moving is scheduled to move a massive office complex in Saudi Arabia.

“They make the museum look little,” Patterson said.

At 1,740 tons and nearly 17,000-square-feet, the building at 30 16th Ave. SW will be the largest museum ever moved for hazard mitigation, he said.

Museum leaders had a decision to make after 8 feet of floodwaters surged through the building in June 2008.

Structurally, the building was sound, but other museums would not loan collections to use in that location and the museum could not obtain flood insurance for artifacts at the site along the Cedar River.

Moving the building was one of a number of options that included building a new museum. Ultimately, the museum's board decided to move the building 480 feet away and 11 feet higher, on top of a parking garage.

Among the factors playing into that decision were the building's impact on the city's skyline with its distinct red roofline and the museum's historical context as the site where three presidents met at its 1995 dedication.

Originally scheduled for April 26, the move has been delayed because of wet weather and new information encountered about the weight distribution of the building, which is 53 tons heavier in the back than the front. No new date has been set.

Added bracing and steel support have increased the weight estimate from 1,400 tons to 1,740 tons.

“We need to do what's right for the building,” Patterson said. “Ultimately, the first priority is the safety of the men and the building.”

He has help from other movers, including friend, Joe Matyiko, president of Expert House Movers of St. Louis, the number one mover in the world.

“The greatest minds in structural moving are in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, right now,” Patterson said.

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

Still, moving a building isn't cheap. Patterson said that price was in part a gift to Cedar Rapids.

“Iowa is my home state and we wanted to give back and to see what could be done,” he said. “The ultimate winner here is the community.”