The Mill likely will reopen as a museum by April

The Mill restaurant in Lincoln, Illinois, likely will reopen as an area history museum in April after almost 10 years of restoration work on the Route 66 landmark.

The Springfield State Journal-Register published a detailed story about The Mill and the plans for it. A $10,720 cost-share grant recently awarded by the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program will enable The Mill to build handicap-accessible restrooms and foster its reopening.

Bob Wilmert, president of the Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County, gave details to the newspaper what The Mill will be like once it reopens.

“It will be a Route 66 museum, but we are also collecting different articles from professional athletes and famous people who have come from Lincoln,” Wilmert said.
These include space shuttle astronaut Scott Altman, who was born in Lincoln and now lives in Pekin; Emil Verban, who played professional baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and Boston Braves; Kevin Seitzer, who played baseball for the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics and Cleveland Indians; Norm Cook, professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets; Brian Cook, basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers; and Tony Sample, who played football for the Detroit Lions.
Wilmert said they will also include displays about Abraham Lincoln, who practiced law in the town that now bears his name. He added that The Mill will keep regular public hours utilizing volunteers.

Geoff Ladd, who led a local effort to restore the abandoned and dilapidated Route 66 restaurant a decade ago, said other items will be displayed, including:

• A picnic basket that emitted a loud siren when you lifted the lid. It once was one of the oddities displayed at The Mill when it still was operating as a restaurant.
• Artifacts from the Pig Hip Restaurant of nearby Broadwell, Illinois. The landmark Route 66 business burned down in 2007.
• Artifacts from the Crossroads Motel, an early Route 66 motel in Lincoln.

The Mill, which featured a Dutch-inspired design and a turning windmill, opened on U.S. 66 in 1929. The Dutch-style restaurant fell into decline during the 1980s and closed in 1996.

The Mill is on the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame, and volunteers from the Illinois Route 66 Association have overseen several big renovations for it.

(Image of The Mill in 2009 by Brian Marsh via Flickr)