Bell’s Gristmill scores with The Flower

Hockey legend Guy Lafleur throws his support behind local project
By IAN MCINROY BARRIE EXAMINER December 4 2010
ESSA TWP. — One of the greatest right wingers ever to play hockey has thrown his support behind a local historical conservation project.
Guy (The Flower) Lafleur visited the Bell’s Gristmill site in Utopia, west of Barrie, on Friday as a guest of the Friends of the Utopia Gristmill and Park.
Lafleur had a 17-year NHL career spanning two decades, from 1971 until 1991, spending the first 14 years with the Montreal Canadiens, followed by a three-year retirement, and then a comeback with the New York Rangers for one season and the Quebec Nordiques for two.
The Friend’s chairperson, Utopia resident and environmental advocate Susan Antler, has worked with Lafleur in the past. She met him while he was promoting the www.call2recycle.ca website, which tells visitors how to recycle household batteries and cellphones.
Antler said his dedication to the environment was a natural fit for the gristmill project.
“The first time I came to see it with Susan four or five years ago and heard about the restoration project, I thought it was a good idea,” Lafleur said, after an autograph session at the Essa Township offices.
“It’s a building that has a lot of history behind it. A lot of old buildings are being torn down but this would be good for tourism and for the local residents.”
To help make the project a reality, the hockey legend also encouraged area residents to vote in the Aviva Community Fund online contest, which is funding local and national initiatives for change through education, youth programs, helping the environment, or cultural activities. The most popular ideas, as chosen by Canadians at www.avivacommunityfund.org, will have a chance to share in the $1,000,000 fund.
Friends of the Utopia Gristmill and Park now has the lease of the 50-acre Utopia Conservation Area where the Bell’s gristmill is located.The building’s structure requires stabilization and both the interior & exterior of the building need to be restored.
“Our fundraising efforts have enabled us to keep the land open to the public and retain it as a naturalized setting. Our immediate goal is to begin the mill’s restoration in the summer of 2011,” Antler said. “The support from the Aviva Community Fund will enable us to open the doors of our mill again and bring the it back to life.”
With Utopia among 30 communities across Canada in the Aviva semifinals, she is hoping are residents will go online. Email voting started on Thursday and the project needs all the votes it can get.
“There are people in our community who remember when the mill was working so we can pass down the story because the community remembers,” she said. “Bringing back history can help shape the future.”
The first gristmill on the site was built in 1864 along with a nearby sawmill. It burnt to the ground in 1903 and reopened on New year’s Day in 1904.
The new, three-storey mill was built on the 1.5 metre thick stone wall foundation and functioned until Hurricane Hazel wreaked havoc on the area in 1954. In 1965 the mill closed.
To learn more about Bell’s gristmill, visit www.utopia.on.ca.