Moving date set for historic house in Fishers

A 153-year brick house in Fishers saved from the wrecking ball this summer will move a half-mile north next month, organizers said Wednesday.

With less than two weeks left in the “Help Move the Kincaid House” crowdfunding campaign, donors have contributed about $5,550—well short of the estimated $115,000 cost of relocating the two-story home to land Navient donated alongside Interstate 69.

But gifts from developer Thompson Thrift and Indiana Landmarks will cover some expenses, the town of Fishers is waiving permitting fees, and planners are pinching every penny they can even as they look for additional funding sources.

If push comes to shove, Hamilton County Tourism’s board of directors agreed to take as much as $70,000 from its operating reserves to make up the difference, Executive Director Brenda Myers said. The agency already had pledged to match donations up to $30,000.

In the meantime, site work has begun in preparation for the Oct. 4 move.

Also known as the Flanagan House, the Italianate-style farmhouse at the southwest corner of 106th Street and Kincaid Drive was built in 1861 from clay bricks made on-site. Its most recent owner was Dan Kincaid, a descendant of Loma E. Kincaid, the founder of L.E. Kincaid Meat Market in Illinois Street in Indianapolis.

It was slated to be demolished in June as part of Thompson Thrift’s planned redevelopment of the Delaware Park commercial subdivision, but preservation advocates intervened, proposing the move.

Hamilton County Tourism offshoot Nickel Plate Arts and the Noblesville Preservation Alliance launched the online fundraising campaign in late August. Tax-deductible gifts will be accepted through Sept. 30.

Organizers determined the house’s chimneys weren’t stable enough to move, so a mason disassembled them, salvaging the bricks. A century-old shed on the property will not be relocated—“priorities have to take place,” Myers said—but Thompson Thrift is talking to others interested in preserving that structure.

About a week of site work is expected at the new location, a two-acre parcel on USA Parkway just west of student loan giant Navient’s Fishers campus.

North Manchester-based Wolfe House and Building Movers will handle the move, expected to take two to three hours. A section of 106th Street east of I-69 will be closed the morning of the move.

A feasibility study is in the works to determine the best use of the house and land after the relocation. Details such as ownership and management will be determined once the study is done.