Custom Windmills
Save the Mills!
The Fischer Windmill
The time is now. Twenty years after the disaster that
permanently closed the mill as a living history museum, the exterior is
showing more signs of structural decay. The
Fischer Windmill must be restored immediately to ensure its survival
for generations to come. Of all the surviving custom windmills in
Illinois, it is now the only windmill not to have plans to undergo such
a restoration.
DuPage County was once home to several windmills that were always in
business shipping freshly-ground flour and feed all over the country.
Many were destroyed by fire or by tornado, and
Colonel Fabyan relocated one to Kane County. Today, the only
windmill left in DuPage is the inoperable, dilapidated Fischer Windmill.
Although the association was commended for preserving the windmill when
it purchased the surrounding farmland, the mill has been neglected by
Mount Emblem Cemetery. The sails, which were turned to the
northeast to welcome visitors, have caused extensive damage from
tail-winding (since the prevailing winds in Illinois are from the west
or southwest).
Years of disuse and natural damage, combined with raccoon damage,
vandalism from visitors, broken windows, overgrown bushes, rotting
timber, and peeling paint make this historical structure all but
elegant. The only repairs ever made included new light-weight,
wind-resistant sails and fresh paint; however, these repairs will not
stop rainwater from leaking in, the resulting dry rot, nor the tail-wind
against the back of the sails. The structure has become so
dangerously weak that it has been closed to the public for two decades.
The windmill suffered again during the Blizzard of 2011 and from severe
thunderstorms in summer. As a result, the stage has begun to
collapse and the East wing has slipped off of its foundation, buckling
under the added pressure of the falling stage.
If the Fischer Windmill is to survive, it must be restored NOW.
Considering its poor structural condition the restoration project could
be expensive (the Fabyan Windmill—which was in good condition for
restoration—cost over $900,000), and because the windmill now stands on
privately owned cemetery property, it is not eligible for the same
government funding or grants that were used to restore the other mills.
The task of restoring the windmill is daunting, but not impossible.
Photo by Florence Sell
