AUGUSTA — Richard Parkhurst stared with befuddled silence at his computer screen.

The historic house move that had taken over the past 45 days of his life hung in the balance Tuesday with one question, on Zoom, from a Maine Department of Transportation representative: “What’s your plan B?”

Parkhurst, the buyer and organizer of Augusta’s largest building move in decades, knew there wasn’t one. He didn’t know what to say to the 16 regulators, city officials and contractors on this call.

The 6,200-square-foot, 3-story house at 15 Western Ave., built in 1899 and designed by famous Maine architect John Calvin Stevens must be moved to its new spot on Chandler Street — or be demolished. Kennebec Savings Bank made a deal with Parkhurst in February to move the building and clear room for its new office building near Memorial Circle.

Any delay, and five months of work to save the house would go to waste. The highly anticipated move through the middle of Augusta, at 7 a.m. Sunday morning, would be off.

This was no time for second-guessing.

Clay Copp of Copp & Sons Building Movers, the company contracted to haul the 120,000-pound house to its new spot a quarter-mile away, broke the silence.

“There is no plan B,” Copp said. “We do this every day.”

PLAN A

The project, expected to culminate Sunday in the half-hour move of the house to its new spot on Chandler Street, was never a guarantee.

Parkhurst, a prominent developer in Augusta who has restored and renovated several aging buildings downtown, has worked for months to secure approvals from the Maine DOT, city officials and even Central Maine Power, which must temporarily relocate a power line from Western Avenue, with no service interruption expected, to allow the massive house to fit underneath. Tuesday’s Zoom meeting, with 16 parties, was a final step.

Even Parkhurst’s efforts to acquire the building in the first place were tenuous.

Parkhurst showed up to a January meeting of the Augusta Historic Preservation Commission, where Kennebec Savings Bank presented its plan to demolish the 1899 house to make way for a parking lot and a new five-story office building. Commission members, disappointed that the home wasn’t covered by the historic district and its demolition protections, hoped aloud for someone to buy and move the building.

Parkhurst raised his hand and made a public bid for the building. This Maine architect-designed building was history, and it deserved saving, he said.

“In my mind, it would be a simple move to the north end of the rotary,” he told the room.

Simple it was not.

Parkhurst had only 60 days to negotiate with the bank to buy the building. Kennebec Savings Bank CEO and President Andrew Silsby and COO Craig Garofalo agreed to pay Parkhurst an undisclosed fee to move the building to a lot that the bank owns one-third of a mile away on the northern side of Chandler Street. The parties split ownership of the Chandler Street parcel.

Not too long after the parties shook hands, five contractors and multiple state agencies and city departments were involved.

A decaying porch needed to be removed and additions to the house — after a period housing high-profile Mainers, the building had long been used as office space — were also to be taken out to restore the exterior to the original John Calvin Stevens plans.

Challenges along the way have required creativity, Parkhurst said. The house was split in two to more easily transport it. Steel beams that were originally placed under the house to lift it off the ground weren’t strong enough for its full 120,000-pound weight, so new, thicker beams were slid into place. Copp & Sons’ truck wasn’t approved for more than 100,000 pounds, so the business applied for an upgraded license.

“This move has overtaken my life for the last 45 days,” Parkhurst said Wednesday. “I’ve been answering calls and going to meetings non-stop.”

Parkhurst has extensive experience with historic buildings, but he said the John Calvin Stevens building is the biggest project he’s ever taken on. As Sunday morning approaches, he said he’s tried to push off thoughts of all the ways things could go wrong.

He even left framed paintings on the wall. Maybe they’ll fall off on the way; maybe they won’t.

“At some point, I had to stop worrying,” he said.

‘JUST ANOTHER DAY’

If Parkhurst is calm about the move, Peter Copp could do it in his sleep.

Copp is the man in the field for the family building-moving company, Copp & Sons, based in Cumberland. He’s moved hundreds of buildings in his time. At any given time, the company oversees the moves of up to 30 buildings.

“It’s just another day,” he said.

Copp said usually, these moves happen within one property — rotating a building or increasing the distance from the road.

But the big job of moving buildings down the street, once very common for the company, is becoming more and more difficult, he said. State regulations and new road layouts have added layers of complexity — not to the actual operation, but to getting the OK in the first place.

“You used to just get an instant permit — fill it out, you tell (the DOT) the route where you’re going, and they’d give you a permit,” he said. “Now you get in a fight with them, get everybody in the world to sign off on it. It’s just a pain. Ain’t worth it to us.”

For this move, Augusta police will need to block access to Memorial Circle and a small section of Western Avenue starting before 7 a.m. Sunday morning. Parkhurst said crews will be on the scene by sunrise.

Once each site is prepared and the Copp & Sons truck is connected, the house will slowly roll along Western Avenue, around two-thirds of Memorial Circle, and onto the new Chandler Street lot.

He got a brand new address for the building this past week: 5 Chandler St.

Once it arrives there and the two pieces will be reconnected, Parkhurst said he plans to restore the original exterior of the building — roof and porch and windows — and then try to sell it.

Parkhurst has spent countless hours and more than half a million dollars on the project, and he hopes someone else is able to restore the interior, using the trim, doors and windows that remain from the original structure.

He said he thinks it could be an upscale residence again, or maybe an office of some kind. At least, he said, it won’t be demolished.

“Once it’s over there, I’ve achieved my goal — that is, to save the house,” he said.

He really hopes he doesn’t need a plan B.