By Crystal Garcia
BRIDGETON — Mike and Karen Roe have a lot of dam jokes.
They have owned the Bridgeton Grist Mill for the past 12 years.
Each year, they try to have one or two projects for fixing something at the mill. This year, they are working on restoring the dam so that the waterfall can span 250 feet long and 9 feet high.
“It’s a dam big job,” Karen Roe said.
Initially, Mike Roe said they were trying to get grants to fund the project, but with estimations of $250,000 to $750,000, there was no way they could afford that, figuring they’d have to pay half.
Instead, they’ve opted to use the help of friends, volunteers and donations to complete the restoration themselves at an estimated cost of $30,000, he said.
“We can’t go into debt hundreds of thousands of dollars because it’s pretty,” he said about not using contractors to complete the project.
Because the mill and dam are privately owned by the Roes, they are paying for the project on their own, unlike the rebuilding of the Bridgeton Covered Bridge because that is owned by Parke County.
The bridge was finished in 2006 after an arsonist destroyed it in 2005. The Bridgeton Grist Mill is the oldest continually operated mill in Indiana. It has been open every year for more than 180 years.
So far, they’ve cut out the wood that was used to support the dam when it was originally built in the 1800s. They hope to have it prepared to be able to pour concrete to fill in the holes by Friday, he said.
Unfortunately, this will complete only half the project and the hardest part is expected to come next summer when they have to shift the current waterfall to the side they’re currently working on so that they’ll be able to complete the other side.
By doing this project, Mike Roe also hopes to make the “famous swimming hole” larger because they are going to tear out all the vegetation that has grown over half of the creek over the years.
They have been working from 8 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m. each day, taking a couple of hours off in the middle of the day because of the heat.
Mike Roe said they hope to have the entire project completed by next fall, but it depends on “time, money and Mother Nature.”
The Bridgeton Grist Mill is open from April 1 to Dec. 1. Part of the funding for the mill comes from the sale of their products such as pancake, corn bread and grits mix, along with many Amish-made jams and candles.
He said the growing demand for “real foods” and the popularity of fresh whole grains has really helped business.
“We’re doing our best to put out a quality product that we can be proud of,” Mike Roe said.
To make sure the products are fresh, he said he grinds wheat and corn about once a week on the mill’s original 48-inch French Buhr Stones. They weigh more than 2,000 pounds and are about 200 years old.
Nothing would have been possible, Mike Roe said, without the revenue brought in from the Covered Bridge Festival.
Kathy Collom, owner of Collom’s General Store down the road from the mill, said the festival also has helped her business.
Collom’s store just opened in March so she couldn’t say how much the visitors to the mill have helped her business, but it’s “unbelievable, the difference during the festival,” she said.
But Mike Roe said if people knew about the mill then they would come at times other than the festival.
“I want to get the mill restored and recognized,” he said. “I think it’s going to be one of the most beautiful spots in the country.”
Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.
