CANE HILL (KFSM)-- It has been over 100 years since the Cane Hill Mill opened for business and now the old wheel will be returned to its former glory.
Ed Marshall, the president of the Cane Hill Restoration Association, said in about two weeks a crane will be on site to move the wheel from where it currently sets.
He said they hope to salvage as much of the original metal as they can.
Once it is moved, students with the Lincoln School District will help restore the buckets.
Then the wheel will be placed back at the mill site on a new slab.
“We’re going to display it out here in all its glory for a while," said Marshall. "We just hope we can keep the vandals away from it and that sort of thing cause it’s been vandalized terribly.”
He explained that through out the years, people have tagged both the wheel and the mill building with graffiti.
Trash that people have dumped at the site can also be seen at the bottom of the wheel.
Marshall said they try to keep the trash picked up but more people continue to dump in the area.
After just about two years of being open, Marshall said his grandfather would ride on horseback with sacks of grain to be turned into flour at the mill in Cane Hill.
He said it would take his grandfather about two days to get flour at one of the few mills that offered it.
When he was 10, Marshall's grandfather brought him to the mill and that is when Marshall's love for the mill began.
For years he has wanted to help the now historical landmark.
Now with the help of the community, that dream will become a reality.
“It’s almost unbelievable," Marshall said. "It sounds corny, but it’s almost like I have to pinch myself.”
He hoped to have everything done around September or October.
He said that is only a goal but knows it may take a bit longer than that.
“Hopefully if we get it fixed up, people will appreciate it," Marshall said. "They may just tear it up again, I hope not, but we’ve got to save the wheel.”