Published: August 12, 2008 11:50 am            

Fulton’s planned museum shows hard work pays off

Ever since the de Immigrant windmill, located across the Mississippi River in Fulton, Ill., has been opened to visitors, it’s been toured by people from all over the world.

It gives visitors a close-up look at a true Dutch windmill, itself constructed in the Netherlands and then shipped to Fulton and reassembled. Volunteer millers provide information to visitors about how the mill works and its upkeep and there are Dutch treasures and milled grains available there.

For years, there has been thought that a nearby windmill museum would be the icing on the cake. It now looks as though that project is going to happen: The city of Fulton is the recipient of a $150,000 Tourism Attraction Program Grant through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Bureau of Tourism.

The grant application was submitted last summer and is in regard to the construction of a museum near the de Immigrant windmill at the northeast corner of 10th Avenue and First Street.

The property was purchased by the city a few years ago, with the expectation that it would eventually accommodate a museum to house a donated collection of 22 scale-model European windmills.

While the interior plans are not finalized, the museum will most likely house a snack/refreshment area, gift shop and additional Dutch exhibits and artifacts.

The council has been in a great position to accept the grant, having previously decided to proceed with Option 1 for the Windmill Development Area, which entailed removal of the Cramer building and construction of a new building to house the planned windmill museum.

That action was contingent upon a review of the historic preservation ordinance, with changes made to facilitate the demolition of the existing structure; receipt of a matching grant from the state and a review of how much funding could be raised.

The total project cost for the museum is $422,050, which includes $272,050 in matching funds from the city of Fulton, Friends of the Windmill, Fulton Millers and pledged donations.

An appointed committee is now meeting to discuss how it will move forward with the construction, organization and maintenance of the museum.

While organizers would like to have the museum complete by the time the Dutch Days festival takes place there the first weekend in May, they are optimistic it will be completed by the end of next summer.

We have been covering the windmill story for years, and know that it took a long time to get from the desire to have a windmill, something that actually goes back decades, to the awarding of a state grant in the late 1990s to pay for it and then its construction and dedication.

This is one more step that proves the hard work on the part of several has paid off, and shows visitors how Fulton is still linked and influenced by its Dutch heritage.

        

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