BARN RAISING: Crews lift barn off foundation for move to Ross Farm
Crews lift Glyde barn off foundation while prepping for move to Ross Farm
With the flip of a switch, an industrial air compressor growled to life and the old barn at the crossroads of Routes 40 and 519 in Glyde began to rise off of its foundation where it’s sat since the early 1910s.
After just a couple of minutes, the barn on the Ritter property had risen only a foot off the ground, but it was just enough for workers to clear the wooden supports and walls from around the foundation until the structure appeared to be levitating in air with only the help of steel crossbeams and hydraulic jacks.
“This is the biggest thing to happen in Glyde in a hundred years,” Amy Ross Manko said as she watched the process unfold Tuesday afternoon.
It’s been a little more than six months since fire destroyed the historic “old barn” on Ross Manko’s 178-acre property in North Bethlehem Township, killing 147 sheep inside. That fire on Feb. 2 not only destroyed the 116-year-old barn on the Ross Farm, but it also dealt a devastating blow to the collection of heritage and rare breed sheep raised by Ross Manko and Melinda Wamsley, who runs Boss Mare Shearing and had been caring for the flock.
But since that time, the knitting and fiber community has rallied around Ross Farm, donating money and sheep to help them rebuild the flock. By early May, they had 65 sheep living in other barns on the property, but they still needed a large structure to house the flock and store hay.
In response, the Ritter family that lives on the neighboring property offered to donate their barn, which is nearly the identical size and dimension of the “old barn” at Ross Farm. Ross Manko and Wamsley watched the barn raising together Tuesday next to Darryl Ritter, who agreed to donate his family’s barn to their neighbors in need.
“I’d much rather see the barn stay historic and in use rather than be dismantled and sold,” Ritter said of the barn, which hasn’t been used in about 60 years but is still in relatively good condition.
The barn raising by Berks County-based Wolfe House & Building Movers was part of the initial process to clear away the support beams and foundation so the barn can eventually be transported about half-mile down Route 519 to the Ross Farm. The move was supposed to happen last week, but inclement weather and other obstacles have delayed it to a future date.
Ross Manko’s great-grandfather, Frank L. Ross Sr., built the old barn on her property that was destroyed by fire, but the Ritter barn was built by his brother, Charles Ross, so it also holds sentimental value.
“I’m very, very grateful we’ve gotten this far,” Ross Manko said. “I can’t wait to see it spit-polished and come back into production.”