The 75-year-old Hawkins Mill, a landmark in Springfield, Missouri, soon will be torn down to make way for an unspecified new development.
KVTV-TV in Springfield reported:
Originally Hawkins Mill, it opened along College Street/U.S. Route 66 in 1940. Kansas Expressway was eventually constructed just yards west of the structure. The mill eventually became an familiar icon at the intersection of College and Kansas. It continued to operate as an active feed mill through the 1990s.
The current owner, Nick Newman, says he shopped for someone who wanted to move in and use the place as-is. But, bringing it up to current safety and structural standards would have cost $2.5 million dollars.
The feed mill’s last incarnation was an antique mall.
Demolition of the structure will occur in the coming weeks, but materials from the feed mill will be used in other projects in Missouri.
According to one online source, Hawkins Mill began as a flour mill, then converted itself to a feed mill during the 1960s.
(Image of Hawkins Mill via screen capture of KY3 report)