There is no admission or registration required. For example, use of recycled building materials and the latest technology on energy conservation will be a far cry from a couple of window air conditioning units and partition removal used to make the eight staffers comfortable through the summer. Work may not start until winter on the mill, which is in need of a new roof. The dam and race will be cleaned out, the wheel sandblasted and repainted and the original 19th-century windows repaired. Local craftsmen repaired the 32-foot overshot water wheel in the 1970s.
Volunteers give guided tours, grind cornmeal and press apple cider at the mill.
Restoration of outbuildings behind the historic Blue Ball Tavern, now a museum, also is in the budget. The museum is crammed with ironsmithing tools, American Indian arrowheads, World War I uniforms and equipment. Although officials had considered closing the pool this summer, it was repaired and is open this summer. New pool construction tentatively is scheduled to begin in fall 2001 with an opening date of Memorial Day weekend 2002. Also on the list of future projects is dredging of the upper part of Holman Lake and a weather shield to protect audiences at the outdoor amphitheater.