After 164 years, Fishers farmhouse along I-69 to be demolished. How its legacy will be celebrated
The city announced Tuesday, July 22, that the 19th century farmhouse house along I-69 north of 106th Street would be 'deconstructed,' but some of its bricks repurposed.
'We're at a point where there is such an advanced level of deterioration that rehabilitating the structure would be a significant financial and logistical undertaking, and the house likely wouldn't survive another move,' Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said in a news release. 'With a lack of interest from private entities to take over ownership of the house, we have decided to preserve what we can and celebrate the legacy of the Kincaid House at a location that better fits the historical significance of the structure."
The clay brick from the house will be used in a future, unspecified project, at the Fishers AgriPark on the east side.
Since being relocated to its current spot the Morris-Flanagan-Kincaid House has deteriorated structurally, with sunken floors, joint collapse and unstable walls, according to the city.
The Italianate-style farmhouse was built in 1861 by the Peter Flanagan family with clay bricks made onsite at 106th Street and Kincaid Drive.
But landowner Thompson Thrift said in 2014 the house would be demolished to make room for a new I-69 interchange at 106th Street. Preservationists raised $115,000, including a donation from Thompson Thrift, to move the house a half mile north to a 2-acre plot donated by Navient.
Nickel Plate Arts, which held the deed, transferred it to Fishers and four years later, Knowledge Services bought the land, where it planned to build a new headquarters. So Fishers and Hamilton County Tourism decided to move the house again, to a roundabout on USA Parkway, south of Ikea.
But those plans fell through and the Kincaid House has sat empty and mostly neglected since, serving mostly as a curiosity for I-69 commuters. A member of the namesake Kincaid family, said he favored the city's action.
'While the usefulness of the current Flanagan-Kincaid house has come to an end and we are sad to see it go, we are pleased it can continue in another form to honor the farming heritage of Fishers,' Fishers resident Randy Kincaid said.
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