In a record-breaking performance, an old theatre is literally being moved on wheels for five blocks through the streets of downtown Detroit.

The 2,750-ton Gem Theatre/20th Century Club will enter the record books as the heaviest building ever moved on wheels, according to reports from Reuters.

Working since mid-September, crews have raised the building 10 feet in the air and placed it on 72 dollies -- each equipped with a 50-ton jack and eight pneumatic tires. Six bulldozers and excavators and 2,000 feet of cable are being used to pull the 100-foot structure to a new home. The move should be completed by the end of October or early-November.

Building owner Chuck Forbes is paying $5.5 million for the move. The theatre, which dates back to 1903, faced the wreckers ball in its former location because of city plans for a new Detroit Tigers baseball stadium.

The previous record in the Guinness Book of World Records was the 1986 move of the 1,600-ton Fairmont Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. Pete Friesen, the consultant on the Fairmont move, is also involved with the Gem Theatre relocation. --By Rebecca Paller