The nineteenth century McConnell house in downtown Greensboro, long the home of the Zenke family, is very close to settling into its new location. Workers have spent the past month carefully securing the structure of the antebellum house in preparation for the move. In the meantime, the footings for the new concrete foundation (image, right, foreground) have been poured and are ready for the next stage of the project. This is perhaps the forth time the McConnell house has been moved in the past 150 years. Its new Washington Street site will return the house to a south-facing orientation as it once had when sited a century ago on West Market Street. Upon completion, the McConnell house will create an historic setting with Blandwood Mansion, also an antebellum structure. Restoration of the house will take place in 2009. The residence is being relocated from Blandwood Avenue to a new site on West Washington Street overlooking Blandwood Mansion in order to make way for the new Guilford County jail. The move will be made within the city block, so the impact of the project on city streets should be minimal.
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