The pictures & story are from the Peninsula News Review .
Written & photographed by Judy Reimche, Editor, Peninsula News Review

The facade is gone, and the museum's 'ribs are beginning to show. The right side of the building will be gone, and the Customs House made its way up to Bevan Park on Tuesday evening.

Precision was the word of the evening on Tuesday (April 12) when Town of Sidney Public Works crews and Nickel Bros. HouseMovers brought the Customs House up Beacon Avenue to its new home. Behind the wheel of the moving truck is Fred Watson, with son Garret and daughter Katherine giving some direction.

There were some startled looks as it made its way (the wrong way) up Beacon Avenue. There were some skeptics who didn't believe the old Customs House would survive the move. But the building proved to be made of sturdy stuff.

The Customs House made the move from its former role as the Sidney Marine Mammal Museum at the foot of Beacon Avenue on April 12 with dignity, and knots of well-wishers watching from the sidelines.

The building has been relocated to Bevan Park (the triangular piece of ground just east of Mary Winspear Centre), and will be used as the new location for the Community Development Office.

Nickel Bros. house movers, who did the honours, provided their services for free, saying this was a community project in which they were pleased to take part. As they moved up the street - Sidney/North Saanich RCMP providing the blockade to on-coming traffic - the crowds gathered in growing numbers. The moving truck, driven by Fred Watson, and assisted in the cab by his children, Katherine and Garret, made the final turn toward the park, and backed the house into its new location as though he was parking a tent trailer. A spattering of applause showed that the feat was appreciated by a large number of people in the crowd.

The whole operation - from the foot of Beacon Avenue to its new home - took just half an hour.

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