The blades of a windmill atop a Denny’s restaurant along Route 66 in Arcadia, California, were spinning again this weekend.
The blades inexplicably fell off the structure late last year and damaged the restaurant’s roof.
Reporter Christopher Yee of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune posted video of the windmill operating Friday evening:
The last-of-its-kind windmill at the Arcadia Denny’s, originally a Van de Kamp’s coffee shop, is back and turning one again. pic.twitter.com/Mb1rsM7Zo6
— Christopher Yee (@ChrisMYee) December 1, 2018
Yee reported about some details about the original restoration last year:
With new windmill blades and a new motor, Denny’s intends to keep the windmill running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Mendoza said.
“Above all, we want to thank the community for its support,” Mendoza said. “Without their support, this would not be possible.”
One new addition to the windmill is LED lighting capable of changing colors. Mendoza said the restaurant will change the lights’ colors to match upcoming holidays.
According to an earlier story about the Arcadia Denny’s windmill, it was the first of 15 Van de Kamp coffee shops and bakeries, built in 1967. The windmill had stopped working during the 1980s.
Exactly a year and a half before the windmill blades fell, on June 29, 2016, Denny’s officially reactivated the windmill, and it had been spinning all day, every day since then.
Denny’s purchased the location in 1989. The diner-chain spent about $100,000 refurbishing the windmill — replacing the motor, reinforcing the blades and adding new LED lighting — according to President and CEO John Miller.
“It’s a bigger bill than we initially thought,” Miller said in 2016. “But we figured when the windmill is still spinning in 100 years, the cost won’t matter.”
Oops. I suspect the original contractor for restoring the windmill had to make good on the repairs.
The Denny’s sits at 7 Huntington Drive in Arcadia (map here), along the original alignment of 66 in the city.
(Screen-capture from Christopher Yee video of the restored Denny’s windmill in Arcadia, California)
This is actually the Alternate or second alignment through the city of Arcadia. The original alignment was further north on Foothill Boulevard, bypassing the Baldwin ranch. The Huntington Drive alignment would come into being in 1932.
Is there any evidence for saying “Oops. I suspect the original contractor for restoring the windmill had to make good on the repairs”?
Perhaps it was just assumed that the mechanics and electrics were still in good order, and all that was needed was a coat of paint. Were the blades turning when they “fell off”? Had there been strong winds? Many unknowns here. Back in the 1930s my maternal grandfather restored a water mill, and had the waterwheel generating electricity for the property.
The story excerpted made it very clear the renovations weren’t just “a coat of paint.” I suggest you re-read it.
The lack of clarity – as to whether the blades fell on 29 Jun 2016, or that was when the windmill was reactivated – in “Exactly a year and a half before the windmill blades fell, on June 29, 2016, Denny’s officially reactivated the windmill, and it had been spinning all day, every day since then” does not help.