Ahoy! 60-ton house moves across icy lake

By Scott Seroka

KARE 11 News
WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. -- A house that once sheltered caretakers on White Bear Lake's Manitou Island was moved across the ice on the frozen lake.

It only took about 40 minutes to move the 60-ton house across a bay on White Bear Lake.

Doug Kraemer owns the home and paid around $65,000 for the move. "If we had not moved forward, the house was going to be razed and everyone loses. This way, everyone wins," Kraemer said.

House mover Terry Semple says the lake route was the only one possible but said that it was move "smooth sailing."

About 100 people came out to watch the historic move. The house is now resting in a parking lot of a boat landing awaiting the move to its final destination about four blocks away on Friday. Neighbors on 6th Street believe the house will fit in nicely to the rest of the neighborhood.

Semple tested the ice for a month before the big move. He had to thicken it in some areas by pumping water onto the lake's surface. The ice was 2 feet thick for moving day.

The weight of the home was spread among 64 tires in order to wheel it across the lake.

The century-old home is being moved to make room for potential development on the small island.

"This is the first time that we've moved a home across the ice. My dad did it 40 years ago, he wasn't so successful. It fell through," Semple said with a little expression of relief.

The move was documented by the White Bear Lake Area Historical Society.

Click here to see KARE's story about family that moves house across a frozen Devil's Lake.

http://www.kare11.com/new...x?storyid=537982&catid=14

My buddy was wonder if they could set it down on the lake for 2 hours, call the Guiness people, and get the world record for biggest Ice House