If the city agrees, Yorkton's historic old mill site could become the tourist attraction one local group of enthusiasts believes it deserves to be.
On Monday Sheila Harris, Chair of the J.J. Smith Mill Committee - established to assess the mill and the possibilities - met with council to seek approval in two areas.
Number one, Harris requested a letter from the city authorizing the right to apply for grants to carry out needed work at the site and secondly she asked that the city not sub-divide the current property but rather leave it as it is.
"The east side entrance from Livingstone street to the mill is important as a parking area and keeps the site as it was originally," she points out.
The local group is also seeking to apply for Heritage Status for the old mill site.
It was back in October of 2010 when an interested group of residents (now called the J.J. Smith Mill Committee) approached the Yorkton Business Improvement District (YBID) with a plan to enhance the property and turn it into a local tourist attraction. At that time YBID got approval from the city to pledge $20,000 to the project which will see the area transformed into a park like setting, with the end result being maintained by the city.
Since that time the mill committee has grown to 16 active members (more are welcome to join) and has met a number of times in 2011. They have also invited Frank Korvemaker, Saskatchewan archivist; Garth Pugh, Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation; Ross Herrington, retired engineer and researcher of heritage buildings, to Yorkton to assess the mill structure and the possibilities.
It was determined the interior of the facility, and the equipment inside, are all intact and that cleaning would be the biggest challenge before turning the building into a tourist display.
"There is a good possibility," says Harris, "that the mill and site would be designated with Provincial Heritage Status if an application was received by the Provincial Heritage Property Department." However applicants must be the registered owner, the municipality or its designate.
If the city should approve the requests, Harris says the committee would then register as a non-profit society and become responsible for repair and maintenance of the building "for years to come."
Anticipating it could cost up to $500,000 to get the site up to heritage standards, Harris says the committee has been researching grants and developing fund raising ideas. They are also working on recruiting new and interested members of the community to get involved to keep the ball rolling.
While she can't promise a committee would be intact in 25 years, she does say the interest level is high and she is confident interest would continue. She also says the facility is in much better shape than at first thought.
""I was very pleased," adds Frank Korvemaker, "to see how much of the mill remains intact and how much original equipment is inside..."
While council expressed interest in the requests put forward, in the end members opted to refer the matter to administration for closer review and more discussion before making a final decision.
Upkeep and potential expense as well as questions about Heritage Status were all discussed. The matter will come up again at a future meeting.
