Locals able to keep a part of Bemis Mill
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SOUTH JACKSON — Residents of Jackson were able to take home part of the Bemis Mill on Tuesday. The owner, Christian Morton, let residents come in and take free wood as a memento. “When it’s gone, I’d like to have something to remember it by,” said Donna Dunnahue, who lives in Bemis. Dunnahue and her fiance live in Bemis. She said she does not know yet what she will do with the large pieces of wood but is glad to have them. “I didn’t get a lot of wood, just a little something to say this is part of the mill and we still have a chunk of it,” she said. Morton said he offered the wood for free as a way to give back. “Because of everything we went through, I mean they all understand when I came to this community I did not realize that there’s really such a bond to this mill,” Morton said. Morton said the tall mound of lumber is 75,000 square feet of subflooring from the top three floors of the building. “They’ll use it for tables, maybe floors, maybe wall fixtures,” Morton said. “There were painters here that wanted to use them for frames, a lot of really cool things they wanted to use them for.” Now he plans to sell some of the bricks once the actual building starts to come down. Dunnahue said she plans to keep the pieces of the mill in her home forever. “It’s going to be sad when it’s gone,” she said. “It was a beautiful building, and there’s a piece of history.” Morton will be selling finished bricks for $1 each and unfinished bricks for 50 cents. He also said the mill will be featured on the upcoming show “Salvage Dawgs” on the DIY Network.
