Historic William Jennings Bryan house finds new home
York News-Times Reprint
Written by TOMER RONEN
LINCOLN — More than six decades after she moved out of the historic Williams Jennings Bryan house on Bryan East Campus, former state Sen. Marian Price was back to see it move.
From 1957 to 1959, Price was a resident of the house while she attended Bryan Memorial Hospital’s school of nursing.
“It was magical,” she said. “I’m here to follow it to the last minute down to its new location.”
Workers on Saturday pulled off the herculean task of moving the historic house, known as Fairview, from its Sumner Street location just south of Bryan East to near 52nd and A streets, where it will be placed on a new foundation. The move was necessary to make room for an expansion of Bryan’s emergency department.
As the house inched its way down a temporary path made of rock, gravel and steel plates, Price expressed her sadness, but admitted she was happy the home will be saved.
The house started its move Friday afternoon, traveling to the edge of Sumner Street and continuing down the same road Saturday morning. It then turned onto 52nd Street before heading west to the 5055 Building parking lot, where it will remain until it is moved onto its new foundation on the northeast corner of Bryan’s campus by 52nd and A streets.
The 1,000-ton structure, one of two National Historic Landmarks in Lincoln besides the state Capitol, had heavy-duty steel beams inserted through openings in its foundation, forming a supportive framework beneath the surface. A hydraulic jack was then used to lift the house on Oct. 22.
The house was later placed on specialized dollies, which were remotely controlled and could support about 8,000 pounds.
Among the crowd of several dozen people — some of whom traveled from as far as Harvard, a Clay County town an hour and a half west of Lincoln — was Chrissie Coleman, a 24-year Bryan employee who started volunteering at Bryan when she was 16. Watching together with her youngest daughter — who skipped a birthday party to be there (it lived up to expectations) — she said it was exciting to see the move, which also symbolized growth in the community.
“It’s pretty amazing to see all of the details that have come together to make this day possible,” she said.
The growth will come at Bryan East’s emergency department, where patients have more than doubled from 2015 — up to 54,000, said Bob Ravenscroft, Bryan Health’s system vice president and chief development officer. On a landlocked campus, the house was in a problematic spot.
“We’re out of space,” Ravenscroft said.
The expansion will add about 25 rooms and a new entrance to the emergency department — and it will span about the length of a football field, Ravenscroft said. The multiphase, $80 million project is expected to be completed in early 2028. The hospital expects $30 million from philanthropy to go toward the project, $19 million of which has already been raised.
The Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission approved plans to relocate the 1901 country mansion nearly six months ago.
Bryan, a three-time Democratic presidential nominee, built the house with proceeds from his publications. He thought of the home as a new Monticello and accepted the 1908 presidential nomination on its front steps.
In 1922, Bryan and his wife, Mary, gave the house and 10 acres of their farm to the Methodist Church to create a hospital. The hospital was renamed after he died in 1925.
After so much planning, seeing the house finally in motion was mind-boggling, Ravenscroft said.
“(It is) utterly remarkable to see and very rewarding for all of us to see it come to fruition,” he said.
Melissa Gengler, historic preservation consultant for the project, said she had “no doubt” the house will stay on the historic landmarks list after the move. Approval at the city, state and federal levels has already passed, and with photographic documentation, the house should be able to stay on the list.
After completion, Ravenscroft said the house will not be occupied for about two to three years before being incorporated back into the Bryan College of Health Sciences for practical use — including administrative, welcome and student services. It will open in tandem with the completion of the college’s new addition, which is expected in the next three to four years.
“It will really be the gateway into the Bryan College of Health Sciences,” he said.
The process to getting there will start immediately. Crews will pour walls for the foundation over the next 30 to 60 days, before reconstructing the basement — expected to remain exactly the same, Ravenscroft said.
Kelsi Anderson, president of Bryan College of Health Sciences, said the house will become a central welcoming focal point for the college, where prospective students will first experience Bryan — something she thinks could help drive up enrollment.
“Being able to resurrect a building where our alumni spent so much time back in the 1900s will be awesome for our students,” she said.
To help raise funds to refurbish the house, auctioneer Bretta Brothers is also auctioning off new and antique items purchased in the early 1990s to furnish the house, none of which were original to the home. The online auction, which ends Sunday, includes furniture, paintings, rugs and more. You can view the auction at hibid.com/catalog/784907/ contents-of-the-williamjennings-bryan-home-lincoln-ne.
Roads were closed in the area for the move but were expected to be reopened by Sunday morning.
Contact the writer at tronen@journalstar.com or 402-473-7391. On X @tronen22
