A journey of 91 years and five blocks

CHENEY – The goose has landed!

DB Davis owner Dell Davis's pronouncement may not have the poetic sounds of astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous statement trumpeting mankind's first landing on the Moon, but to Cheney Depot Society member Sue Beeman, the words announcing the end of the depot's move were just as sweet.

"Whew! What a day," Beeman said in a June 18 email. "I'm doing a bit of basking in the success of the moment today!"

She and other members of the society have every reason to "bask" in that success, which began with uncertainty in spring 2014 with the announcement of the historic 1929 former Northern Pacific Railroad structure's impending demolition. The six-plus year effort to save the depot achieved an important milestone when Davis and his crews moved the 195-plus-ton structure five city blocks to its new home on 1st Street.

The journey took the better part of 10 hours from the depot's original location along railroad tracks just north of Cheney-Spangle Road. After weeks securing it structurally and installing the moving apparatus, the depot constructed in Southwest adobe and stucco architecture - unconventional for the Pacific Northwest - was raised off the ground, fitted with transport dollies and slowly hauled to its new home last Wednesday, June 17.

There were several challenges along the way. First, the building had to pass under city electric lines, which it did easily before crossing Cheney-Spangle.

Once across, it then made a diagonal transition away from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Washington Eastern Railway right of ways to its straight path between the tracks and the Cheney Grain Growers storage facility. Part of that involved negotiating a rise in the terrain just as the depot cleared the road to the south.

To maintain the building's structural integrity during this and other uneven parts of the trek, Davis - driving the Mack 822 truck pulling the load - worked in conjunction with crew member Chad Krause. Krause operated levels and hydraulic jacks connected to the building to adjust to the terrain.

Once past the silo the depot turned to come alongside its future home, and then was pivoted 180 degrees to get it properly oriented - a processes taking three-and-a-half hours. At one point, the building had to clear a storage container located onsite - missing it by inches.

Once in place, Davis and his crew secured the depot on cribbing set over where its foundation is to be built by Walker Construction.

DB Davis was picked by the Depot Society because they were the only structural moving company that said they could move the building in one piece, rather than in sections. That was a challenge, Davis said, because since it was "slab on ground" construction rather than possessing a traditional flooring system it was not as rigid as other structures.

"For that brittle of a building, it held up pretty good for the transport," he said.

"It's the Walker Show now," Depot Society President Tom Trulove said.

Walker will pour the foundation, including installing utilities - all while the depot sits overhead. The contractor will also fill in the hole where the furnace sat at the former location, completing the society's agreements with BNSF.

Once Walker is done, Davis will return, reset the jacks and hydraulics and lower the depot onto the foundation. Trulove said they will then re-install windows and doors removed for the move while excavator Jack Gillingham does additional site utility work and moves earth to better landscape the location.

"Those things will probably consume a good deal of the summer," Trulove added.

After that, volunteers will fix the building's exterior as much as funding allows, beginning with painting. Moving the building was helped immensely by a $366,000 grant in August 2019 from the state's Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation, and Trulove said they are in the process of applying for another similar grant.

"They're usually pretty good about supporting projects that are under way," he said, adding they are also scheduled to receive the second half of a $50,000 grant from Avista.

After that, the society will get back to fundraising for the project, estimated at $1.1 million – $1.6 million, in order for additional plans for the building proceed. The fact the 91-year-old depot is finally at its future home is a tremendous achievement - one Trulove said many didn't think possible in 2014.

"What a feeling of elation," he said. "It is a whole new chapter for downtown Cheney."

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].