Garling Barn finds new home in Oakland Township

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP — An over 150-year-old historic barn has been saved from demolition in Oakland Township.

The Garling Barn was recently moved from 2200 E. Clarkston Road to its new site on Stoney Creek Road, just east of Lake George Road in Oakland Township.

“We wanted to save this barn because they were going to demolish the site to make way for a development. We knew the size of the barn could be very useful with all the park land the township has,” said Barbara Barber, a preservation planner.

The 32-by-70-foot barn, she said, was donated to the township by Oaktown LLC, which plans to develop the parcel it previously sat on. At press time, development plans had not yet been presented to the Oakland Township Board of Trustees.

The barn’s new home is not the location township officials had initially planned.

Originally, the township wanted to move the barn to the historic Cranberry Lake Park, which Barber said lost five barns over the years.

“To move all the lines — Comcast lines and DTE lines — overhead traffic lights, the tree trimming and line raising, it was going to be astronomical,” she said.

To dismantle and rebuild the barn and transport it to Cranberry Lake Park was estimated to cost $500,000.

“We don’t have the money for that. We just don’t have the money, because $100,000 of it would have been in tree trimming and electrical lines — that’s just a cost that you’re never going to get back. It’s not like investing in a new air conditioner that’s going to benefit the building. It’s just a lost cost,” said Barber.

To cut down on cost and tree trimming, officials instead decided to move the barn right across the street.

“Moving it intact was the cheapest way to go,” Barber explained.

“There is a 16-acre parcel on the corner that the township owns, and then a little tiny 10-acre parcel — where there is also a lone silo, because there was a barn there maybe 50 years ago — abuts to that. So we thought if we could move it across the road, we don’t have all the trees to trim and there are only three Comcast lines that need to be raised, so that is a lot more feasible because it’s closer.”

CNA contracting handled the move for approximately $57,000 and Bloomingdale Construction of Michigan was hired for around $85,000 for construction work on the foundation and roof repair.
“The goal was to keep it under $150,000 to save this huge, 2,100-square-foot historic barn,” Barber added. “It’s probably one of the largest barns in the township.”

Due to the barn’s size, officials had to temporarily close Clarkston Road, the intersection of Lake George Road, and Stoney Creek Road, in January to carefully transport the historic barn on a 16-wheel flat bed.

Board of Trustee member Lana Mangiapane said she is “pleased” with the new location, because it is high and dry.

“That particular site is gorgeous,” she said during a past Board of Trustees meeting. “People will be able to see it from the road and they won’t have trouble finding it.”

Mangiapane said the new potential park will also be an excellent place for the community to learn about the history of the township.

“One of the things about Oakland Township that makes it so special, is that people in this community do know some of the past history and how we got to become one of the best cities in the United States to live in,” she said.

Now that the barn is in its new location, township officials hope to eventually turn the parcel into a future park.

“We’re saving (the barn) because we want it to be of public use at some time,” Barber added. “We have a small budget, so it’s going to take some years — an investment maybe over the next five to 10 years.”

For more information or to donate to the project, call Oakland Township Parks and Recreation at (248) 651-7810 or email bbarber@oaklandtownship.org.