Graue Mill repairs delayed by high bids

Repairs to the historic Graue Mill in Oak Brook originally scheduled for this fall have been pushed back to next year because bids for the work came in higher than expected.

The DuPage County Forest Preserve District is planning structural improvements to the 163-year-old mill along York Road, including damp-proofing the foundation walls, replacing the stone floor in the basement and installing new concrete foundations under various components of the wooden gear works.

Executive Director Michael Hullihan said the repairs will make it possible for the district-owned mill to once again use its water wheel.

The nonprofit group that operates Graue Mill had to stop using the water wheel in 2013 when it was discovered that the foundation under the gears had shifted. An electric grinder has since been used to make cornmeal at the mill.

"Nothing is getting worse," Hullihan said. "It's just that we want to get back to using the water wheel as it originally was designed."

Originally, the plan was to start the repair project this month. But the district received price quotes from three construction companies that were significantly higher than engineer's $630,000 estimate. There also was an apparent misunderstanding among the bidders of the scope of the work.

So Hullihan says the decision was made to delay the project and get new bids over the winter. He said the work is now targeted to start by June.

"The most important thing is that we get a good product," Hullihan said. "Because we want to fix this for decades - not for years."

It's the second time this year that the forest preserve district has had to postpone work to one of its historic buildings.

Plans to restore the Ben Fuller House in Oak Brook were delayed after commissioners voted twice - once in June and again this month - to reject bids for the project to transform the historic house at York and Spring roads into an interpretive center.

Hullihan said it's unclear when new bids will be sought because the district has learned that it won't be getting a promised $295,000 grant from the state for the Ben Fuller House project.

The district and the Fullersburg Historic Foundation want to restore the 1840s farmhouse so it can open as a museum featuring history about the structure along with interactive displays.

But because of the loss of the state money, Hullihan said the district needs to re-evaluate what could be done as part of the project.

"We're going to have to look at the level to which we want to take it," Hullihan said. "There's different levels of restoration."