The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

With Concept In Hand, City Can Now

Approach Sponsors To Help Build A Museum Gathering Place Where Historic Flour Mill Stood

As you may re­member, follow­ing the fire that destroyed Wait's Mill last September, the Mayor and City Council commissioned the Waitsburg Community Revitalization Committee (WCRC) to explore alterna­tives for re-use of the mill site. A public meeting was held at which several sug­gestions were made. A pri­mary theme among these suggestions was to do some­thing

to commemorate the mill, which was the reason that Waitsburg was founded here.

The Waitsburg Historical Society board was asked for input and they also advised that any re-use of the site ought to have a commemo­rative aspect. The society, which had just been awarded a $37,000 grant for work on the mill by the Sherwood Trust, was contacted by the trust and advised that this grant could be repurposed for a historic commemoration. A formal application was made and approved, and the grant funds were made available for site re-use planning. During the 10 years in which the WCRC has exist­ed, we have received advice from foundations, govern­ment entities and commu­nity service groups about the importance of having a thor­ough

and well-prepared plan in order to be well positioned to receive grant funds.

The WCRC has put this advice into practice with the streetscape project and then with the Facility Assessment and Planning document for the mill. In both cases, patient application of this pattern resulted in sufficient money raised to accomplish Phase I of the Streetscape project and then to get started on meaningful repairs on the mill.

This approach was used again for the re-use of the mill site. A Request for Proposals was issued and the winning bidder for the plan was Jones Jones Ar­chitects of Seattle. This firmhas an international reputa­tion for planning facilities of this type and the WCRC feels fortunate to have them involved. The plan has just been completed. It envisions a multi-use facility which works with other points of interest in Waitsburg to create a great experience for residents and visitors. It incorporates space for interpretive dis­plays

to learn about wheat and the milling process, museum displays, space for moderately sized per­formances, and an area for commercial enterprises that fitin with the general theme. It can also illustrate the very early story about the region, including the Native Americans in the area, the impact of Lewis and Clark, and the first settlers. The plan is ambitious and, if fully implemented, would be very expensive, but if we were able to do it, it would be a facility second to none. At our request, Jones and Jones prepared the plan so that it could be phased and built up over a number of years, depending on how quickly funding could be found and how well the ear­lier phases of the project met the expectations and needs of the region and the com­munity.

In parallel with plan pro­duction, the hazardous situa­tion at the mill site has been corrected and many historic machine parts have been collected for future use. This includes two water turbines dating to the late 1800's. This material is now in storage. Cleanup efforts were in part paid for by the Sherwood Trust grant and the remainder of the ear­lier grant from the Kinsman Foundation. One possibility outlined in the plan is to include some of the original rubble-stone foundation walls in the new facility and to create a com­memorative sculpture from the salvaged pieces. The cleanup effort keeps these options open. The committee's next steps are to send the plan to interested government administrations, individu­als

and foundations; attend regional meetings; and begin the process of fund raising. Only after two or three years of this fund raising ac­tivity will we know whether and how quickly we can move ahead with the facility as envisioned in the plan. The committee urges pa­tience from everyone in the community. It would be a mistake to settle for short-term changes at the site which would hinder progress toward the plan that is now in place. If we find that the plan is not possible to implement, then we can always think about a different plan. At this point, the committee remains op­timistic and committed to communicating this plan with those who can help us. The committee wants to thank all those who turned out for the community work sessions with Jones Jones. Copies of the plan may be reviewed at City Hall. The plan is also available on the City website. Com­ments

and suggestions are welcomed - contact Ross Hamann, Loyal Baker or Jeff Broom or leave them at City Hall. Jeff Broom is a member of the Waitsburg Community Revitalization Committee