FAIRHOPE — The time frame to move the house from Stephen Spielberg's sci-fi epic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" has been extended by city officials.

During Monday's city council meeting, the City of Fairhope approved a 180-day extension requested by the developers to move the house, which has remained dormant near the intersection of Alabama Highways 104 and 181.

As previously reported by GCM, the city approved plans last year to relocate the house to make way for a subdivision and retail project on the same land. Under the terms agreed to between the developer and the city, the developer was given a year-long window to move the structure.

Hunter Simmons, planning director for the City of Fairhope, said the building department has done "a lot of due diligence" to make sure the process of moving the Close Encounters house is successful, though no further updates have been given at this time.

The house was featured in the 1977 film where it can be seen during the first act of the movie when the character Barry Guiler is abducted by aliens. Plans were to renovate the house and turn it into office space once relocated to an adjacent property near its original location.

The movie was also filmed in other local areas, such as the former site of Brookley Air Force Base in Mobile and Louisville and Nashville Railroad depot in Bay Minette.