CHARLOTTE — Thursday morning, crews relocated Charlotte’s oldest brick retail building to Dilworth.
The Leeper-Wyatt building was once the oldest surviving brick commercial building in South Boulevard’s Business District.
The building was then designated a historical landmark in 1989. However, it was in danger of being demolished due to development.
In order to save it, a restaurant group moved the building to Cleveland Avenue to sit next to their restaurant. It took nearly four hours to complete the task.
Residents camped out all morning to catch the rare sighting. Some even grabbed lawn chairs and coffee as they waited for the anticipated move.
“It is the coolest thing that can happen across the street than you can ever experience,” said neighbor Eric Moxim.
Moxin told Channel 9 that he recently moved to the area but quickly learned about the historic Leeper Wyatt building.
“It’s kind of cool. A way of actually bringing the past into the present a little bit,” said resident Laura Dalla Pazze. “Hopefully it’ll be a really nice addition to the neighborhood.”
It will be revitalized as a restaurant.
VIDEO: Neighbors push back on plan to move historic building to Dilworth
This browser does not support the video element.