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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

The slow pace of change

Huetter Mansion starts move across street to make way for seminary on Gonzaga campus

Father Paul Luger  spent most of Wednesday watching the Huetter Mansion begin its slow move 120 feet from it current location at Sharp and Addison to its new home across the street to the east. The building, which is over 100 years old, weighs 420 tons and is being rolled on 96 wheels.  (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
 I Staff writer

The oldest Jesuit in the Northwest spent most of Wednesday watching movers transport a mansion where Catholic seminarians trained and lived while attending Gonzaga University.

The Huetter Mansion portion of the Bishop White Seminary will be moved 120 feet to make way for a new seminary. The century-old mansion was donated to Gonzaga University by the Diocese of Spokane, said GU spokesman Dale Goodwin. The only condition was that the college had to move it from the northwest corner of Sharp Avenue and Addison Street.

Father Paul Luger, 96, was impressed to see the massive house in the middle of the street, adding that he came out because “it was the Bishop’s house and where he worked. Isn’t it something?”

Transplanting the 840,000-pound home was no small feat, Goodwin said. A crane, a winch and 96 wheels placed underneath the building were just the beginning.

How long will it take? “It will not be a 40 yard dash,” Goodwin said.

House movers started working on the project a month ago, said Craig Catlow, owner of Catlow Craig Professional House & Building Movers. He said the move should be complete in about two days if all goes right.

The moving company, which has done other projects for Gonzaga, first had to move the existing house on the northeast corner of Addison and Sharp onto a new foundation before moving the mansion, Goodwin said.

Transplanting the Huetter house took every piece of equipment Catlow had, he said. It was the heaviest house the company has ever moved.

The bottom line for Gonzaga is about $500,000 for the whole job, Goodwin said. The Diocese plans to build a new Bishop White Seminary in the location at 429 E. Sharp Ave.

Since 1956, the building has been used as “the residence and training center for Catholic seminarians pursuing their undergraduate degrees at Gonzaga,” Goodwin said.

In the future, it’s unclear what the mansion will be used for, officials said.

The house was designed by architects Herman Preusse and Julius Zittel, who also designed the GU Administration Building. It was built around 1897 by John T. Huetter and originally was his home. The German-Catholic family raised eight children in the house.

Huetter also built the Gonzaga Administration Building, Heath Library, DeSmet Hall, the former St. Joseph’s Orphanage and other large brick and stone buildings in the Spokane region, many of which have been demolished, including the orphanage.

Granite spheres that adorn the entrance to Gonzaga are one of his signatures.

This move isn’t the first time Gonzaga decided to move a building that was considered part of its campus. In 1900, the original Gonzaga building – all 2.5 million pounds of it – was moved 500 feet from 300 E. Boone Ave., Goodwin said. That building has since been razed.