BY MIKE HEASER
Editor
The old Balsam #3 schoolhouse has had a fluid history. Originally a schoolhouse, it has been moved several times and was later transformed to become a post office as well as a home to several people and families.
Now, 98 years after it was built, it is on the move again. Dan Guida owns the property the building is on currently but plans to build a new home in the spot where it sits.
Dan is working to get the building back to the State Park where it originally sat, but some complications hamper the process.
Savanna Portage State Park Director Marty Torgeson explains that once the park gets involved, the expense of moving and restoring the building would greatly increase as well as the time it would take to get it done.
“We would have to have architects come in from the preservation society,” Torgeson said. “We would also have to make sure it is restored well enough for the public to enter the building.”
All of these factors, Torgeson explains, would make the move much more complicated.
Dan, however, isn’t giving up on his vision.
“My dream would be to have it put in the exact same position that it was originally and returned to its original condition, but that is a difficult task,” he said.
One alternative that might play out but which Dan isn’t keen on is having it moved next to the Balsam Town Hall.
“If we put it over in Balsam at the Town Hall, it’s going to see about ten people a year,” he said. “If we put it up at the park, it’s going to see about 50,000 people a year.”
The building was built with numbers marked on each log in reference to the order it was assembled. This would allow the building to be completely disassembled and put together again at a later date in a different location.
This scenario is ...
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