Kirby’s Mill gets a new lake balcony

by Sue Serdinak

The October Richfield Joint Recreation District board meeting was canceled because they lacked a quorum with several board members out of town. However, the Friends of RHP continued working on two large projects, having finished the work to restore Amity House and making it ready to rent.

A balcony had been attached to the Kirby water mill and it overlooked Lake Jinelle, but the wood had rotted and it was no longer safe. Rather than ask volunteers to work on the project, which would require extensive equipment and working above the lake, the Friends hired Homeland Building & Design to remove the 12 by 6 foot balcony, piece-by-piece, and reconstruct the pieces out of the same wood, white oak. The builders also evaluated the mill house where the deteriorated balcony had been attached, replacing wood where necessary. They attached the new balcony at a project cost of about $26,000.

The replacement of the balcony follows a long list of projects the Friends have undertaken on the mill. They previously replaced the roof, restored windows, had the wheel pit repaired and the water wheel reconstructed.

In the future, they plan to restore the water box that feeds water to the mill wheel, replace the exterior stairway of the mill house and the swinging bridge that connects the mill to the southern trail in the park. 

The Friends plan to develop and install educational displays of hydroelectric generating equipment as used by James Kirby in the twentieth century.

Garfield Hall

On a history hike for the Richfield Heritage Preserve, Lynn Richardson pointed out the work that the Friends are doing on Garfield Hall. Photo by R. Kazar.

The Friends have continued working on Garfield Hall, hoping to get it stabilized and under a roof before winter. They engaged Rocco Masonry to repair the fireplace and wall supports and tuck point and replace fieldstone on the chimney. They engaged Hinckley Roofing to build a new roof for the main structure. Volunteers recently constructed a new roof for the patio of the building.

The rotten balcony of the Kirby Mill that overlooks Lake Jinelle at Richfield Heritage Preserve was removed, and a new balcony was attached. The Friends of Richfield Heritage Preserve paid to have Homeland Building & Design do the work because the balcony extended over the lake and extensive equipment was needed to remove the old balcony. Photo by M. Parker.