In Cedar Rapids, the relocation of the expatriate museum building has been completed

New York/Cedar Rapids - In the city of Cedar Rapids in the American state of Iowa, the challenging relocation of the Czech and Slovak Museum building has been completed. The structure, which was damaged by flooding three years ago and weighs 1500 tons, was moved on rails 150 meters further above the floodplain. On Sunday, it finally settled on its new foundation. This was reported by Eastern Iowa Government.
    "It was a nice, slow process," said Joe Matyiko, head of Expert House Movers.
    The building relocation began on June 8 and was supposed to take about two days. However, heavy rain on the first night soaked the prepared path, and the relocation could not continue. At that time, the building was moved about 70 meters. After a weather-imposed break, the museum finally reached its new site on June 21.
    Then, the lifting of the building from the rails to its new foundation began using hydraulic jacks. The building needed to be raised about 3.3 meters above the ground. Only then could it settle on its new foundation.
    The cost of the relocation is $713,000 (about 12 million crowns). This is still significantly less than the two million dollars (around 34 million crowns) that it would reportedly cost to demolish the structure and rebuild it in another location.
     The museum building opened in 1995. The floods of 2008 damaged the interior, including the historical exhibition and library. However, a substantial part of the collections and inventory was salvaged. It will open at its new location next year.