How an Indiana Office Building Was Moved Without Disturbing Employees

I've previously mentioned my seeming inability to feel earthquakes. Over a decade ago, one registered five-point-something on the Richter scale between 5 AM and 6 AM. It didn't wake me up.

But I would argue that if my entire BUILDING moved--maybe it did that morning; I don't know--THAT is something that would wake me up. During a sizable tremor, a structure might do a little shaking, but it wouldn't move 52 feet. THAT would make me leap out of bed and out the front door, and maybe in one fell swoop.

Indiana Bell Building Is Rotated and Moved 52 Feet; No Workers Are Disturbed

In 1930, 600 employees at Indiana Bell went about their daily routines while construction workers gracefully rotated the building 90 degrees, moving it 52 feet in the process. Inside, the Indiana Bell employees continued working without interruption, and the fact that no utilities were disabled during the procedure might have had something to do with that.

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Why Was the Indiana Bell Building Moved?

Why was such an undertaking necessary? They needed a bigger building for the Indiana Bell Telephone Company's headquarters. But they were NOT allowed to disrupt telephone service. So, several masters of precision were tasked with a seemingly impossible mission, yet they pulled it off beautifully. Here are some stills of the project. Count me among the very impressed.

While this may sound like a cool historical attraction in Indianapolis, think again. The historic old edifice was demolished in 1963. Progress had begun to take over.

Frankly, I don't why they had to destroy it. Couldn't they have just MOVED it? We now know it wouldn't have bothered anyone.