Work on saving the old brick mill in Yorkton will continue.
At its regular meeting Monday Yorkton Council unanimously supported the Yorkton Brick Mill Heritage Society continuing its work.
The Society had appeared before the meeting to update its work.
The biggest effort was replacing the roof, said Society spokesperson Barry Sharpe.
鈥淭he roof has made quite a difference,鈥� he said, noting issues such as water leaks and pigeons have been addressed.
In addition, the Society and mill have been getting a old deal of publicity in recent months.
鈥淒uring 2015, we have received positive feedback from the general public by our presence at the Spring Expo and the TV Video production of the Mill produced by Sask Tel. We will be participating at Harvest Showdown with an educational display using a scale model of the mill to tell the story of a seeded kernel of wheat to a loaf of bread on the kitchen table. As this is Heritage property we will be able to relate the early pioneer days to current locations,鈥� detailed a letter circulated to Council.
The Society is also continuing to fund raise.
鈥淭o date this year our local fund raising has been approximately $11,000 and with harvest now almost completed we will be concentrating on pursuing this further. Due to the repairs done on the mill building and our promotions this year new people have come forward to take a more active role in our heritage society,鈥� detailed the letter.
However, there are still some issues from the City to be addressed, said Brant Hryhorczuk, a building official with the City.
In a report to Council from Hryhorczuk the work on the rook was acknowledged as a good step.
鈥淭he Mill Committee obtained a Building Permit for the replacement of the roof on April 29, 2014. The required permit application was prepared by a Saskatchewan Engineer. The roof replacement has been completed. City Building Officials had been working with Logan Stevens Construction to arrange for the engineer to complete the final field inspection as per the conditions of the permit. To date the required engineer鈥檚 final inspection report has not been received so the permit file remains open,鈥� stated the report.
But more remains to be done.
鈥淭here remain a number of repairs identified as 鈥淧riority 1鈥� in the August 2012 report entitled 鈥淥ptions Analysis, Condition Assessment & Repair Schedule鈥� that have yet to take place. Most of these repairs deal with the stabilization of the cracking exterior masonry walls. It is the opinion of City Building Officials that unless these identified priority repairs take place, the building鈥檚 structural integrity will continue to deteriorate,鈥� identified Hryhorczuk鈥檚 Report.
Ultimately City Administration recommended Council let the Society continue its work, albeit with a caveat.
Hryhorczuk said, 鈥淭hat the JJ Smith Mill Committee be given the opportunity to continue to work towards the restoration of the building in consultation with City Building Officials and further that they be required to have an Engineer, registered in the Province of Saskatchewan, inspect the building and provide a report on the building鈥檚 structural integrity by October 1st, 2016.
鈥淎ny structural repairs that may be required to ensure that the building does not become a threat to public safety and further that the Committee be required to provide a timeline of when any required work will be completed to the October 17, 2016 regular meeting of Council.鈥�
