TOWN OF CARY TO MOVE HISTORIC HOUSE TOMORROW

House to become part of future downtown park

WHAT:            Cary ’s Waldo Rood House will be moved from its current location at 114 Waldo St. , down to Walker Street and around the corner to 114 Park St. , property owned by the Town that will be part of our future downtown park.

 WHEN:          Thursday, December 6, 2007 at 9 a.m.

 WHERE:         The house has been moved down the hill from its old location at 114 Waldo St. and will be stationed at the intersection of Waldo Street at Walker Street before being transported to 114 Park St .

 WHO:              Moving contractors K. B. Bunn and Sons of Zebulon, NC will move the house to its new location.

BACKGROUND:

Cary ’s Waldo Rood house was built around 1873 by Dr. S.P. Waldo, the third practicing physician in Cary and owner of the Town’s first drug store.  The house is an example of the Gothic Revival style, a romantic style popularized by renowned New York architect and landscape designer Andrew Jackson Downing.   The Waldo House is one of only two board and batten style houses in Cary and one of the few remaining examples of this unique style in Wake County .

Previously owned by the First United Methodist Church of Cary, the house was donated to the Town of Cary on the condition that it is moved from its current site.  The church needs access to the property the house sits on for expansion.

Moving the house will cost the Town about $50,000, and renovating its exterior, which will begin immediately upon its being moved, will cost about $35,000.  Interior renovations to prepare the house for its new role as a possible welcome center for the new downtown park will likely occur in 2009 and cost about $150,000.

DIRECTIONS:

From I-40, take the Harrison Avenue exit and travel south.  Turn left onto Chatham Street , and then right onto Academy Street .  Turn left onto Waldo Street , and public parking is available anywhere along Waldo Street .  The house is located at the bottom of the hill at the intersection of Waldo Street and Walker Street .

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