Street closures are pretty common these days around Boise with all of the road work going on. But it’s not every day traffic gets diverted due to a house in the middle of the street. That’s exactly what’s been happening behind St. Luke’s Hospital since early May, though.
That should be coming to an end soon, though, so if you want to catch the odd sight of an historic brick house marooned in the middle of a street, you’ve got till Friday to get down to Jefferson Street behind St. Luke's. That’s where the Bishop Foote Guest House has sat on a flatbed for nearly two weeks.
“The Bishop Foote guest house is on track to continue its move to its new location starting this weekend,” St. Luke’s spokeswoman Anita Kissee says. “Starting early Saturday morning, the crews are going to start taking down some of the lights at 2 am and the house should be rolling by 4:30 or 5:00 a.m.”
In early May, the 304-ton home was on its way to a new location to make room for an expansion of the hospital, but mechanical issues stopped the truck that was moving the house in its tracks.
Kissee said St. Luke’s officials decided it was safer for the house and less likely to cause traffic delays on busier streets to take their time solving the mechanical issues rather than trying to get the house moving quickly.
A small portion of Jefferson Street has been closed since.
“We’re just really grateful that the community was really patient with us,” Kissee says.
The Foote House was named after the former Episcoal Bishop of Idaho Rev. Norman Foote before it became a place for St. Luke’s patients to stay during their care.
The house will be moving to the corner of Bannock and Ave. B. St. Luke’s is still working out what the new role of the home will be for the hospital.
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