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The Rebarchek Barn has spent its life in the heart of Palmer's farm country. The barn is a Springer system nomad, moving from farmland to the state fair grounds before finally getting parked -- still on dollies -- in a field near Arthur Keyes' Glacier Valley Farm.

One of many barns constructed in the mid- to late 1930s for the Matanuska Colony, it's starting to show its age. The orginal timber walls framing the first floor are gone, the roof leaks, and the right side sags. Eventually it would fall prey to one of the twin killers of the historic structures, fire or the relentless Palmer wind.

But Keyes had his eye on the distinctive roofline and this spring he decided to buy it.

Moving the barn went quick, mostly. Low power lines stalled the project in the parking lot of the Palmer Seventh Day Adventist Church for weeks as the weather warmed.

But at 9 a.m. Wednesday, a Matanuska Electric Association crew droped the lines and 30 minutes later the Rebarchek Barn was at its new location.

Keyes plans to restore the barn and use it for the operation of Glacier Valley Farm.

Contact Stephen Nowers at stephen(at)alaskadispatch.com.