LINCOLNVILLE — "Lincolnville is a special place," said Victor Goulding, resting a hand on a 2 by 8 that was holding together the old schoolhouse that had just crossed Route 52 in Lincolnville Center. On Saturday morning, Oct. 27, the town of Lincolnville woke up on a mission. The mission was to take another step in building the community that it wants to have, a community that is resilient, sustainable and constantly involved in charting its own course.

Nothing speaks more to that intention than what happened on Saturday in Lincolnville Center. Four hundred people came out to help move a building formerly used as the Lincolnville School House and now known as the Lincolnville Library. They moved it by hand. The white school house, which was built at the end of the 19th century had sat largely unused for the better part of six decades, having been used on and off for storage for an automotive repair shop and as a carpenter shop, but for the most part it sat off the road waiting for this day to come ever since the school children of Lincolnville left it behind in the late 1940s.

The Lincolnville Community Alliance, under the direction of Jim and Cindy Dunham, had organized fundraising events such as yard sales and bake sales to raise the funds to insure and move the building from one side of Route 52 to the other. After months of preparation, signs appeared inviting the community to take part in moving the school house using people-power. The signs had a picture of the old school house with feet coming from the bottom and the hopeful words "Let's Move It!' underneath.

And there it sat, well off the road, snuggled next to the former fire house that is now used by the Lincolnville Yacht Club — its row of six over six windows in shadow most of the day and its clean lines largely unseen and mostly unappreciated — until Saturday. In the days leading up to moving day, a set of wooden tracks appeared in front of the building. The building was supported on the interior by a framework of 2 by 8 supports, bright yellow and new against the worn century old skeleton. For weeks preceding Saturday, Jim Dunham's old brown pick up sat out front, lift gate open and tools spread out on the ground as a crew of volunteers got the old building ready.

The materials for the track had been donated by a local builder, as had all of the labor. The new cement pad, which had been poured weeks before, also was provided at a reduced cost. It covered the spot where the old Dean & Eugley mechanic shop used to sit. There it lay, waiting for it's new partner. The rollers, which were visible along the base of the building, were made from a few dozen 2-inch iron pipes about 18 inches long each. They were set under the building using four heavy jacks, which sat at each corner of the structure.

As the moment of truth drew close, Ross Faneuf stood near, straight as a pin wearing kilts and holding his bagpipe. At 9 a.m. on the dot he played a tune and began to march across Route 52 perched upon the wooden track. He looked like a locomotive crossing a trestle as he marched with military precision. When he had crossed the road he finished the tune and looked over at the crowd and said, "That's all!"

Behind yellow caution tape sat rows of lawn chairs. Those that couldn't pull were determined to watch the show. And it was a show that would have something for everyone. Also at 9 a.m., the thick rope that was attached to block and tackle was pulled taught and the building began it's journey across the road. Route 52 in Lincolnville Center was closed from 8 until 10:30 a.m. It took 90 minutes for hundreds of sets of hands to pull while a dozen built the track in front of the building as it crossed Route 52. As they pulled hand over hand, many people looked up and watched as the muscle energy they were expending drew the Library closer and closer to it's new home.

"Amazing...", "This is really incredible", "I can't believe we're doing this!" were comments that could  be heard coming from the line. A truck from Central Maine Power raised a cherry picker to ensure the building cleared the power lines. It did. It also cleared the phone lines across the road.

Donald "Duke" Heald Jr. and his brother, Fred, watched with smiles on their faces. The two brothers had both gone to school in the building over half a century ago. Duke took hold of the rope and pulled while Fred sat and watched. Later in the day, Donnie Heald III drove by in his big red pick up truck with his son Aithen in the front seat to see the goings on. The two had spent the morning hunting. Aithen poked his head out the window and looked on in awe as a big white schoolhouse blocked his path. David Munson Sr. and his son, Wyatt, pulled as I did with my son, A.J. Silverton. My wife, Jessica, pulled too. Jackie Watts was also there with her family. She came out to pull while seated in a wheelchair, her son behind her pulling too.

The geometry and physics had been planned out perfectly. By lunch time the library was ready to pivot and begin it's slide across the pad to rest and wait for the next part of its life. By 3:30 p.m. it was done. Victor Goulding hung up his cell phone. "I just got off the phone with my wife," he said. "I had to tell her, this is really something!"

As the sun set over Norton Pond the golden light filtered through the row of windows to illuminate the inside of the new library, a warm and promising light. It is a light that will undoubtedly shine on the faces of those who use the library for years to come as they look out the windows and see the mountains and the pond in front of them.

And as you drive past Drake's corner and approach Lincolnville Center, you will now be greeted by something that a community did. A beautiful, old white building that stands as a monument to what a community can do when it has an intention.

The plan for the future is to have a modern, energy efficient library facility with WiFi and an annex built on the back of the building that will serve as the entrance. The interior will be modeled to be reminiscent of the schoolhouse it once was.

◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊

For a gallery of photos of the building's move, and the people who made it happen, visit the Lincolnville Community Library's gallery on Flickr.

Editorial Director Holly S. Edwards can be reached by email at hollyedwards@penbaypilot.com or by calling 207-706-6655.