Eagle Point, Ore. –After the historic Butte Creek Mill burned to the ground, the owners are getting some help.
An expert with an unusual specialty is in the Rogue Valley to help get the reconstruction underway.
“There’s never a week that goes by I don’t get a call. ‘I’m out of my muffin mix, or my pancake mix–when are you going to be back?'”
It’s calls like these that make Butte Creek Mill’s owner Bob Russell motivated to get the mill back to its original form. He said, “That’s important to me–that it’s historically accurate, and when you walk in that door it looks like 1872.”
The mill burned down in 2015 on Christmas Day the next day bob already had plans to rebuild.
“I never did think I owned it. I always thought it kind of belonged to the people,” Russell said.
So far, they’ve been able to raise more than a quarter million dollars.
Russell said, “I know it’s just scratching the surface, but the response from the community is just overwhelming.”
Now, the project has caught the eye of the Timber Framers Guild. Executive Director Jeff Arvin said it’s a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the craft of timber framing. “We build the bones of the building,” Arvin said.
The two are only in the beginning process but their collaboration is the first step in rebuilding the mill.
“When we do get back its going to be great I think the public will go crazy,” Russell added.
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