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When I first interviewed for the job of executive director of the
Abraham Lincoln Tourism
Bureau of Logan County a little over a year ago, I knew the
selling point for me would be the strength of historical tourism
from the county's Abraham Lincoln and Route 66 heritage. I found out
right away that some of the local Route 66 attractions needed a lot
of attention. Inspired by some thoughts on the subject by Ernie
Edwards of the Pig Hip Restaurant Museum, I decided it was time to
do something about The Mill in Lincoln, a famous restaurant and bar
that had been abandoned and left in a state of disrepair for over 15
years.
The Mill, which is designed like a Dutch mill, originally opened
as The Blue Mill in 1929 and was a sandwich stand on a bustling
section of the 1930-1940 section of Route 4 and Route 66. In talking
with Ernie, he told me of all the gas stations and businesses that
were located along this section and that now only The Mill was left
standing. In the post-World War II era, The Mill became a restaurant
and bar and was famous for schnitzel sandwiches. Later, additions
were made to the back of the original building.
Jump to 2005, and we have a building that was left to deteriorate
to the point where demolition seemed like the only option. The city
battled with the property as well, finally clearing up several liens
against it so that it could be sold at a tax auction. But the
auction didn't provide a solution either. The winning bidder didn't
have the resources to tear the structure down, due to an asbestos
problem. About a year later, the owner was in court receiving a
$32,200 fine and a contempt-of-court ruling that could land him in
jail!
I decided, against all odds at this point, to mount a campaign to
save The Mill from more legal entanglements (which would delay
much-needed repairs even further) and to finally solve this problem
to everyone's satisfaction. The plan was to save the historic front
part of the structure, while at the same time demolishing the
condemned back part of the structure. This was what Ernie Edwards of
the Pig Hip had suggested to me several months earlier. The legal
proceedings were a big new problem. I ended up serving as the
liaison between the owner and his lawyer and the city of Lincoln and
their attorney.
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 The current owner is prepared to turn over the property to our
newly formed Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County. We
hurriedly incorporated this group, which will address preservation
and promotion of Route 66 in the county.
In exchange for giving us The Mill, the city has now voted in
favor dropping all fines and charges against the owner. The
restoration process will take a few phases, with the first being to
make the structure safe and photogenic on the outside (drawing
visitors as a photo attraction), and then later to fully restore the
building as a museum.
Since we want to help the city quickly rid the community of the
"eyesore," our new group has secured a loan for the demolition phase
of the project. We will be relying on private donations, grants,
fundraising events and online fundraising (http://www.savethemill.org/)
to make our loan payments and raise additional funds for the
restoration phase.
We are looking for help from Route 66 enthusiasts around the
world to keep this project going. We'd love to hear from you
(217-732-8687 or
info@tourlogancounty.com). We hope to have it ready for a photo
attraction by the spring of 2007. There has been a lot of hard work
so far on the part of this excellent group of concerned citizens and
preservationists, and we have overcome the odds and some heated
criticism at times in our effort to save The Mill from the wrecking
ball. Make plans to visit Lincoln in 2007 and see The Mill!
[Geoff Ladd, Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County]
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