Historic Leard's Grist Mill must be torn down, museum concludes

Leard's Grist Mill which was built in Coleman in the west end of P.E.I. in 1888 and continued operating until 2002 must be torn down, the Canadian Potato Museum has concluded.

• Historic Leard's Mill threatens Trout River

"Back in the 1880s and early 1900s, there were as many as 118 grist mills on the Island. So, it's the last of a legacy, and it'd be nice to preserve it," Billy MacKendrick, chair of the Canadian Potato Museum, told CBC News.

But the money to do it just isn't there, said MacKendrick. The mill was donated to the museum, which hoped to restore it and open it up to the public as an historic site, but after years of trying to raise money for the restoration, it has given up on that plan.

'Didn't fit the program'

ACOA, Heritage Canada, and the provincial government did not see that preserving the mill was feasible.

"It just didn't fit the program guidelines with some of our funding partners," said MacKendrick.

"We're looking at a different avenue, to at least have a reasonable facsimile of what the grist mill was. Sometimes you have to take what you can get as opposed to having the grandiose perfect scenario."

The museum is looking at removing artifacts and installing them in a purpose-built extension of the existing museum.

He said a substantial portion of the mill would be saved as part of the new plan.

"I think we'd take the entire ground floor where processing took place," said MacKendrick.

"It'd be the grist mills, it would be the hopper tanks, all that equipment. And it's quite extensive. It's not like you just pull these pieces of equipment out. It's like building a puzzle because they all fit into one component."

Danger of collapse

MacKendrick estimates the new plan would cost between $250,000 and $300,000, but stresses that is just an educated guess at this point.

There is some urgency to getting some kind of plan underway. The mill, which is perched on the edge of the Trout River, is in very poor shape. There is concern it could collapse into the stream.

That would not only destroy artifacts, but also cause serious environmental problems, due to toxic materials in the building.

MacKendricksaid hewould like to get moving on a new plan sometime next year at the very latest.

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