JOPLIN, MISSOURI -
Updated February 16, 2012: Morning commuters in Joplin might have seen a unique sight today. The city has moved the "volunteer house" at 25th and Joplin to a temporary site at Schifferdecker Park.
The house holds great meaning for many in the community, covered in words of inspiration and gratitude from relief workers and local residents.
After the tornado the homeowner placed furniture in the house and welcomed volunteers to use the structure as a resting spot.
"I suppose the coolest thing for me about it is I'll be able to come back in a couple years when it's in the museum and be able to walk through and re-live some of those experiences, with the actual people who were there, who were writing those messages, so that's pretty cool," says Tim Bartow, the home's owner.
The homeowner says it will stay at the park for a few years and eventually be moved to the Joplin museum.
Reported January 24, 2012 by Jordan Aubey: Volunteers and the City of Joplin work towards preserving what's been called a "volunteer oasis" and a "labor of love".
A tornado-damaged home on South Joplin Avenue is on its way to being preserved for years.
Eight family members survived inside when the tornado hit. Shortly afterward volunteers from around the country stopped by for food and drink, and wrote messages of hope and prayer on the home.
On Tuesday volunteers put wrapping around the home to preserve it until the city decides where to put the home for permanent display.
"When you've got about a thousand volunteers signing things from the plaster and floors and sides of the face of studs and sides of studs, it's just extremely - this thing will be history for Joplin for centuries," says David Glenn of the Glenn Real Estate Group.
"We had spent a lot of time remodeling the house before the tornado and in some kind of a way it was sort of like part of the family," says homeowner Tim Bartow. "It is the house that saved us and it was really well built and probably a lot of why it saved us. And so I'm grateful that it's going to preserved so that I can always come back at some point in time and walk through the house just like we use to."
All of the materials used to preserve the home were donated from area companies. The wrapping used on the home was donated by the Tracker Boat Company.
