A modern day barn-raising

<p>Steve Montgomery never met a building he couldn't move. </p><p>But in more than 30 years of raising and relocating historic structures, the owner of Montgomery Contractors never had the chance to move a round barn — until last week. </p><p>“It took a little ingenuity to do it,” Montgomery said.</p><p>Using an elaborate web of interlocking steel I-beams and 14 powerful jacks, workers from his Sacramento company on Friday gently lifted the DeTurk Round Barn three feet off the dirt upon which it has rested for 119 years. </p><p>The modern day barn-raising was the first major step in a $2.1 million facelift for the historic city-owned structure north of Railroad Square, built in 1891 by wealthy winery owner and horseman Isaak DeTurk. </p><p>Raising the barn will allow workers to build a proper concrete foundation. Once that's done, the barn will be lowered, anchored in place, and the full-scale renovation can begin. </p><p>When completed in the fall, the city envisions a facility that will be able to host weddings, art shows and community events.</p><p>The main challenge in raising such a unique structure was to do it in a way that didn't require cutting holes in the curved siding, Montgomery said. </p><p>His company solved the problem by inserting 18 beams through the windows, turning the barn into what looks like a massive wagon wheel. </p><p>Those beams were then connected to the roof joists and supports for the second-story walkway, from which DeTurk enjoyed observing his prized ponies. </p><p>Another engineering challenge for the big lift was to find a way to affix the square hardware to a round building, Montgomery said. He had fittings specially curved to conform to the structure, he said. </p><p>By the time the building got airborne, there was as much steel inside as wood. Montgomery estimated the building's weight at 30 tons, and the same for the steel supporting structure. </p><p>Overall he came away impressed with the project. </p><p>“It's a work of art,” he said. “I think it's going to be a quality building for the community.”</p><p>According to Park Project Superintendent Rich Hovden, the project is being funded by a $822,000 grant from the California Cultural and Historic Endowment Project, plus City of Santa Rosa park development fees, and donations from the community. </p><p>Park development fees are paid by developers to help the city acquire and develop parks. The fee varies from year to year, but in 2009 it was $7,252 for a single family homesite, Hovden said. </p><p>In addition to the barn, upgrades include a new, larger dog park at the south end of DeMeo Park.</p><p>Area residents Jeff Buletti, 28, and Kristina Svarna, 23, visited the modest dog park on the west edge of the park Tuesday morning with their two pit bull puppies, Yogi and JoJo. </p><p>They said they're looking forward to using the new larger dog park, which isn't open yet but already has a new fence, fresh sod and new trees. </p><p>“It's great to see they're cleaning up the area,” Buletti said.</p>