Commemoration Ideas Emerge

WAITSBURG - It has been nearly three full years since Wait's Mill burned to the ground and city staff members and the Waitsburg Historical Society are thinking it may be time to add something small to commemorate the significance of the mill.

City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said earlier this month he asked Jeff Broom, the presi- dent of the Waitsburg Historical Society and committee member of the Waitsburg Community Revitalization Committee, to begin looking into the cost and designs of informational kiosks that could be placed at the site of the mill. The kiosks could pro- vide information on the mill's history and could also highlight the spot as a location where Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery passed through.

On Sunday, Sept. 6, 2009, the north end of Main Street was lit with a bright glow and the city residents watched a big piece of their history go up in flames.

After production farming started in the Waitsburg area in the 1860s, Sylvester Wait built a flour mill that gave the town its namesake, according to the Jones & Jones Concept Plan for the mill from June 2010. The mill was closed in 1957 and the Touchet Valley Grain Growers used the building for storage and administrative offices.

Broom said after the grain growers moved out, the group deeded the property to the historical society, but the society was concentrating its efforts on the Bruce House and were unable to get much done with the mill other than cleaning it up.

"The society then gave the property to the city in hopes that they could do something with it," he said.

A Waitsburg revitalization committee was formed in 2001 with the first priority of address- ing the city's streetscape, and a second priority of the mill. The mill continued to deteriorate over time and in 2005 was put in the list of the state's Most Endangered Historic Properties. The city put a temporary roof on the mill and together with the society and the committee started raising money for some major repairs and weather proofing.

Unfortunately, there has never been a cause determined for the fire that took the mill in just a few hours in 2009. The foundation walls and brick safe that had been in the office are still intact.

In 2010, Jones & Jones, an architectural firm, presented a large, expensive plan to com- memorate the mill. The multi- million dollar concept for the museum grounds proposed a complex of nearly 10,000 square feet of space under vari- ous roofs: a central museum of 4,500 square feet that recalls the history of the town and mill, displays various exhibits, show- cases historic milling machinery and has a changing gallery for temporary traveling exhibits; a 1,920-square-foot interpretive center; a 2,535-square-foot lobby with a gift store, ticketing and rest rooms; and a 685-squarefoot space for administration offices and meetings. Hinchliffe said the proposal didn't gain much traction because it would have taken a long time to build and it was very expensive. Broom said because the city owns the property, obtaining funding is "quite complicated" and requires some ownership changes.

And the historical society still doesn't have the bandwidth to take on a project that large, he added. Broom said instead of tackling the huge $7.5 million project, the society and the city could work together for now to do a smaller project that will commemorate the mill site for the community. The city has about $1,000 left for a project, Hinchliffe said, and Broom said about $5,000 is left from a previ- ous grant.

Broom said he doesn't know exactly what they will decide, but they are looking at informa- tion kiosks at this time. He's looking at what kiosks are avail- able and is planning to take his findings to the city council in the near future. Another idea is to put a better roof on the brick vault at the site and use that structure to post historical inter- pretive materials, he said.

"We ought to do something," Broom said.

Broom and Hinchliffe even threw out the idea of commis- sioning some steel sculptures for the site. The steel could be from materials salvaged from the mill after it burned.

In addition to a commemorative piece at the mill site, Broom said the society's new Wilson- Phillips house, located behind the Bruce House, will have a whole wall dedicated to an exhibit on Wait's Mill in the garage.

Hinchliffe said there were some members of the community who weren't too excited about repairing the mill's roof when it was in existence and he doesn't know how the public would feel about a small project, such as the kiosks.

Broom said there are many small options to consider and the community may be on board. Once alternatives are ready for consideration, public input will be welcomed any time the proposals are discussed at city council meetings, he said.

"I think the time is right," Broom added.