This beautiful and historic church in Springfield is getting the boot.

Last Tuesday, the First Spiritualist Church was uprooted from the spot it had stood on for the past 129 years. The reason? The construction of a shiny new MGM casino.

This gorgeous church was originally built in 1887 and served the Protestant community of Springfield. In 1919, the church was sold to the First Spiritualist Society. The structure’s Victorian Gothic architecture has earned it a place on the National Register of Historic Places.

Rather than demolish the church, the town of Springfield decided to take the unusual measure of literally picking up and moving the church to a new home down the street. This was no simple task, however, as you can see in the video below.

The 475-ton church was first jacked up and hauled off of its foundations. The building was then literally wheeled down to its new location, about two football fields away from the future casino.

Check out this insane video of the moving process.

You can see that the church was moved inch by inch. Spectators said that the building barely wobbled during its journey.

What do you think? Should the old church have been left in peace? Or are you glad that the town found a creative solution that accommodates both buildings?

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