Little Chute Windmill
| Little Chute Windmill | |
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| Origin | |
| Mill name | Little Chute windmill |
| Mill location | Little Chute, Wisconsin |
| Information | |
| Type | Smock mill |
| Storeys | Three storey smock |
| Base storeys | Three storey base |
| Smock sides | Eight sides |
| Number of sails | Four sails |
| Type of sails | Common sails |
| Winding | Tailpole and winch |
| Other information | Under construction |
The Little Chute Windmill and Van Asten Visitor Center is a planned functioning Dutch smock mill and interpretive center in Little Chute, Wisconsin, United States. The authentic wooden windmill will include an adjoining visitor center. Tours will lead to different levels of the Windmill, allowing visitors to see actual operation of the mill as it harnesses wind power to grind grain into flour. The Van Asten Visitor Center will feature exhibits on the history and legacy of Dutch settlement in the Fox River Valley and northeast Wisconsin.[1] It is anticipated that the windmill will have ties to Little Chute’s two annual festivals: The Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival and the Dutch festival of Kermis.
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[edit] Location
The planned location is Main Street in Little Chute.
[edit] Planned Features
[edit] Windmill
The Windmill will have an authentic 1850s design, based on similar mills from the province of Noord Brabant in the Netherlands, the home province of many of the first Dutch settlers to the area. Design for the 38-meter (125 ft) high wooden windmill is being completed by fourth-generation millwright Lucas Verbij of Verbij Hoogmade BV in the Netherlands. Verbij Hoogmade BV designs, builds and restores windmills all over the world, including similar windmills in San Francisco[2] and Sakura, Chiba, Japan. The windmill will be partially constructed in the Netherlands and shipped for final assembly in Little Chute. Completion is scheduled for spring 2010.[3]
[edit] Visitor Center
The Van Asten Visitor Center will have a museum display on the history of Dutch settlement in Little Chute and the surrounding area, which will be implemented and maintained by the Little Chute Historical Society. It will be designed to look like the old Zeeland Mill that stood nearby until it burned in the 1930s. The Society will also have meeting and work space in the Visitor Center, as well as archive storage. The Gift Shop will sell many items of interest, including souvenir bags of flour ground in the Windmill. The Van Dyn Hoven Media Room within the Visitor Center will be used to screen films and house smaller exhibits and gatherings. There will also be a meeting space available for public use.
[edit] Current status
Little Chute Windmill, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is dedicated to raising $2.5 million dollars to build the functioning Dutch windmill and interpretive center, although dollar/euro rates may increase some costs. To date, a total of $2.4 million dollars have been raised, boosted recently by a $300,000 gift.[4] Greta Van Susteren, who grew up in nearby Appleton, serves as the Honorary Chairperson.[5] The architectural firm is Quantic Architeture LLC. of Appleton, Wisconsin.
An effort to locate the Windmill on Island Park along the nearby Fox River has been abandoned.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Little Chute Windmill Committee
- ^ San Francisco Recreation and Park Department
- ^ "Little Chute Wisconsin". Dutch in Wisconsin. http://dutchwisconsin.com/index.html. Retrieved 24 August 2009.
- ^ Appleton Post Crescent
- ^ GoDutch
- ^ Appleton Post Crescent.
[edit] External links
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