Leard's Grist Mill restoration continues to grind along

The second phase of restoration has been completed at Leard'sGrist Mill in Coleman, P.E.I.

Located at the end of Leard'sPond near the town of O'Leary, the historic mill is looking like a brand-new building from the outside even though it is actually 130 years old.The mill operated in western P.E.I from 1888 until 2012.

A crew of four workerswashired for14 weeksover the summer to rebuild and repair the old mill, with some help from provincial training program Skills PEI.

"I've lived just up the road," said carpenter's assistant Kenny MacDonald.

"I grew up around here so I knew this place was here, I just never knew all this was in here for all these years."

The crew had its hands full working to repair the years of damage from time, weather and rodents.

They also rebuilt parts of the chutes and belts that once helped the machinerymillgrain.

"It was a really good experience," said carpenter's assistant Ashley Rafferty.

"I really enjoyed figuring out how everything worked and looking at it, becauseI'd never seen the insides of all these machines," Raffertysaid."Whenever we opened one up it was like 'Oh so that is how it would do that.'"

The crew worked under the watchful eye of carpenter and site supervisor Jason Greenan, who said hewas pleased with what the workers accomplished over the summer.

"It was great, when they started some of them hadn't even picked up a hammer before," Greenansaid.

"I would be confident right now to put them on a carpenter crew working somewhere else."

Amid the clutter and debris the crew cleaned out, they also managed to find nuggets of historylike an original sign for the mill.

"It is very rewarding at my age to see this," said Susan Dalton, a member of the mill's restoration committee.

"It's something we can pass on to the next generation and they can look at it and say 'Oh, look they did that for us and it must have meant a lot to them'. And it does, it does mean a lot."

The mill machinery has not run since 2012 and will still need some work to get it going again.

For many years, it looked like the building would have to be torn down.

Volunteers raised money, and the federal government chipped in some funds to rebuild the mill's foundation it had been perilously close tocollapsing into the stream that once powered it.

Although the committeeis excited they are one step closer to reopening the mill so thepublic can enjoy the its important Island history, there are no firm plans yetfor the mill's future

"It's technology at its very oldest, you know, the old grinds and grist," Dalton said.

"It is just a wonderful piece of history and I do hope that people will use it, people will enjoy it and come and see it."

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