Longwood's long effort to move and rescue the Lewis House, which the Longwood Historic Society dates to 1885, may soon pass from City Hall to the society itself.
City staff are recommending that commissioners send $144,046 left over from the house's budget back to Longwood's general fund for the 2026-27 year and authorize work on legal papers to transfer ownership of the building to the society. The discussion was on the agenda for the Longwood City Commission's regular meeting at 6 p.m. Monday in the commission chambers at 175 W. Warren Ave.
Any transfer documents would come back to commissioners at a later meeting.
Bids came in high
The city budgeted $150,000 for the house in the 2025-26 budget.
According to the staff memo from Community Development Director Chris Kintner, a request for qualifications to relocate it drew only one response, from Falcon Design and Construction, which estimated $275,000 to $340,000 to move the house to Reiter Park and finish the interior, exterior and utility work needed to use it as an assembly building.
Staff then asked for a narrower price to move the house to Magnolia Park and only set it on a foundation, leaving renovation for later. That estimate, $172,850 to $224,300, was also over budget.
The memo puts the city's direct spending on the house so far at $27,154.08, including soil borings at possible Reiter Park sites, plans for a pavilion that would have reused some of the home's wood, and the lift the building has rested on for about 10 years.
