August 14, 2024
Caitlin Yamada, The Sioux City Journal
David and Judy Oberg watched Wednesday morning as their new home was slowly pulled out of a bay in the Sioux City Career Academy Trades Facility.
"I was a little nervous about it getting out of these doors actually," David Oberg said. "It looked pretty tight, looked pretty tall, but they planned it right."
On Thursday, the house built by students in the Sioux City Career Academy will move from the career academy facility to its new permanent location in Jefferson, South Dakota. Wednesday morning, the house was moved into the parking lot in preparation.
David and Judy Oberg as well as representatives of the school district watched as DNC Movers slowly moved the house. The Obergs bought the house for $150,000 in July from the Sioux City Schools after losing their home in the recent flooding.
"It's pretty exciting to see this house go out the door today," Judy Oberg said.
Judy Oberg said she had lived in their home for all but 18 months of her life. The pair had lived there for 50 years having bought the farm from her parents. When the flooding began in June, the Obergs believed it would be like the flooding in 2014.
"We weren't concerned about our house this time because in '14 we didn't have any water," David Oberg said. "It was a lot worse than predicted."
Their home took on 36 inches of water. David Oberg said they were only able to salvage a few things from their home.
"Two months ago, we had no idea really what we were doing," David Oberg said. "We were looking at our options and one was the rebuild wasn't feasible, it just didn't make sense. We were even contemplating moving to town, looking for something in Elk Point, or Jefferson or North Sioux ... but we really like living on the farm and living in the country."
The Obergs were approached by a family friend who works for the district about buying the career academy house. At the time, it had just been put up for sale in a bidding process.
The district-built home is a 1,646-square-foot, single-family, one-story ranch house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the main floor. Career Academy Principal Eric Kilburn estimated comparable houses in the community sell for around $300,000 to $400,000.
The house was one of two built over the last school year by students in the construction trades school. More than 35 students used the opportunity to learn introductory construction, HVAC, electrical and plumbing trades.
David Oberg said they loved the layout of the house, the quality of the finishes and build, and that it was built by students.
Site work has already been done at their land. The home is being placed six feet higher than their previous home at a different location on their property.
"Never say never, but hopefully the water never gets any worse than it did this time, and the house should be high and dry, next time we should be able to sit in the kitchen and just watch it go by," David Oberg said.
Kilburn said being able to sell the house to the Obergs was a blessing and was invigorating for the staff and students.
Alex Loza, a senior at West High, was one of the students who helped build the house. He mainly helped with the siding, flooring and shingles. He attended Wednesday to watch the house being moved.
"It was cool, it was pretty cool," Loza said.
Judy Oberg hopes people stop by to see the house when it is being moved and placed and welcomes the students to visit and see their work. The couple want to plan an event to thank the people and community who helped them throughout the process.
The 2023-24 school year was the first year of the program. At its inception, the goal was to build one house over two years, but the students ended up building two houses in one year. Kilburn said they plan to be able to sell one house a year going forward and reinvest the money into the program.
See more pictures from the moving day by visiting the Sioux City Journal website.