But the weight has been distributed among the 344 tires that will roll down 100 East to Oneida Street, meaning each individual tire shouldn't exert more pressure than those on a large moving van. Only time and experience will tell if those predictions bear out.

In the meantime, several large insurance policies have been put in place to indemnify the city and the academy's supporters in case there is some kind of liability as a result of the move, Linton said.

Yet, the inconvenience — and the fact that the town still has to raise another $1.5 million for restoration work — doesn't seem to phase Hampton, whose roots are forever tied to the massive stone structure.

Oldest academy

Built from 1890-1894 by Hampton's grandfather, German immigrant John Nuffer, it cost between $20,000 and $40,000 to construct and was one of several schools formed by early Latter-day Saints. It is believed to be the oldest of 35 such academies The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built from 1888-1909 at scattered locations around Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona, Mexico and Canada.

One of the only academy buildings left standing that was constructed by the LDS Church during the 19th century, the building has been at the core of preservation efforts for years. Locals have long been divided over whether saving the old building was actually viable, and many advocated demolishing it. Situated only 10 feet from the current Preston High School, it had fallen into disrepair, and the site was needed to expand the high school.

But believers paired their efforts several months ago with those of Linton and the Mormon Historic Sites Foundation. With the wrecking ball looming in the background, they publicized the preservation quest outside tiny Franklin County and raised more than $1.3 million by last summer's deadline — with major contributions from Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller and his wife, Gail, along with the Eccles Foundation — to move it.

The academies were forerunners to the Church Educational System and seminary program, designed to provide students with both a spiritual foundation and secular training.

Until 1922, the Oneida Academy served as a combination high school and church academy for hundreds of students. Two of its graduates later served as presidents of the LDS Church: Harold B. Lee and Ezra Taft Benson, the latter of whom was U.S. secretary of agriculture under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Benson's hometown of Whitney is just southwest of Preston.

Noting the area's rich LDS history, preservationists are pleased the building will be relocated to a site just a block north of the stone home where Elder Matthew Cowley, an apostle of the LDS Church, was born in 1897.

Project restoration