With the Lambeau Field expansion project underway, a few houses are in the way of a new parking lot.
The expansion on the south end of Lambeau Field means parking spaces for the media have to be pushed back to make room.
The only problem?
“The media parking lot itself will stretch out over the two lots where these homes are,” Packers Director of Public Affairs Aaron Popkey said.
But instead of a wrecking ball, the Packers sold the houses to DeVooght House & Building Movers.
The Valders business approached the Packers about buying the homes. They’re being moved intact and put in storage for a future owner.
“As soon as we knew these houses were going to be removed or demolished, we contacted them right away and said ‘We’re the Green Bay Packers, we have to go green,’ so let’s salvage these houses and recycle them,” co-owner Don DeVooght said.
The process takes careful planning and operation.
“Just about everything you see done here, especially working with the Packers and Myron Construction, they’re very safety conscious so are we,” DeVooght said.
“We put these large steel beams underneath that you we slide them in, and once they’re in we jack the house up, once that’s done we roll it off the foundation.”
The process started on Wednesday and will be finished when the houses are moved Sunday. The garages will be moved on Monday.
The $6,000 profit the Packers made from selling the houses will being paid forward for more housing.
“We said, hey, let’s turn that right around in the spirit of things and donate it to Habitat for Humanity,” Popkey said. “Their mission is obviously to work with folks who are unable to obtain homes on their own.”
Next week, the Packers can begin building the new parking lot to be completed this summer.
If the team needs to move any other homes due to the stadium expansion, it will try to repeat this.
“That’s the best way to go. It’s the most sustainable way,” Popkey said.