Old seed building may be moved, remodeled

    The vacant F.B. Mills Seed Company Building in Washington may soon have a new tenant, and even a new location. Jeremy Patterson, who runs a house moving service out of Washington, presented a plan to the city council?s finance committee Wednesday night to rehabilitate and relocate the three-story building at 604 N. Seventh Ave.

    Patterson said he would like to move the building ? constructed in 1900 ? to the empty lot on North Marion Avenue where the Chamber of Commerce building once stood. He said that if the structure were moved, it would be the largest building to be moved in the world this year. 

    Patterson said he is willing to put $2 million of his own money into the restoration and relocation of the building provided he can receive TIF funding through the city. He said that TIF funding would have to be secured soon because he is working under strict time constraints. Patterson is the star of a reality show called ?Heavy Haulers? which airs on the cable channel TLC. He said TLC is planning to film the move, which has to be done this winter.

    ?TLC is completely on-board with this,? said Patterson. ?They would have been here tonight but they?re stuck in a ditch outside of Iowa City. They?ve told me that this building has to be going down the road in January because of our time crunch.?

    City Administrator Dave Plyman said that in order to approve a TIF district in that kind of time, the council would either have to hold special meetings or waive one of the readings of the ordinance that establishes the district. Patterson said he will return Wednesday to present his plan to the entire council. At the finance committee meeting, Patterson said it has yet to be determined what the seed company building will be used for if it is remodeled and moved to North Marion.

For the full article, see the Dec. 10 edition of the Washington Evening Journal.