Museum plans response to windmill fire

Steinbach, Man.--The Mennonite Heritage Village has already set into motion plans to rebuild the historic windmill that was destroyed by fire on October 22. Investigations indicate that the fire was arson but further information is still not known, said Gary Snider, the museum's director (see back cover).

The museum board has been in touch with the Dutch Windmill Society in Holland and has been told that a millwright will be available to them.

"Holland has windmills dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries and the millwrights have experience in maintaining and building them," said Snider. The museum is expecting the millwright to come to assess the situation and then return for the building season.

The wooden structure is gone, but "the most important part, the cast iron main shaft which weighs 8,500 pounds, survived the fire. It would have been the toughest to replace," explained Snider. "All the old wooden gears which came from Germany dating back to 1820 were lost in the fire. None were documented and no plans or blueprints were made of them."

The fully operational windmill that burned down was built in 1972 at a cost of $100,000. It was a replica of the windmills Mennonites built in Manitoba after arriving from Russia in 1874. Today the cost is estimated to be four times as great.

The Heritage Village had experienced vandalism earlier this year.

"In March, a number of the historic buildings were broken into but it was minor damage. We never expected it could escalate to this," said Snider.

Security remains an issue. An 8-foot fence already encompasses the 17-hectare village. "We don't want it to look like a fortress or penitentiary. That flies in the face of who we are. We would like a gentler image that reflects our belief, faith and culture, but we have to consider how insurance plays into this," said Snider.

"The police are confident they will resolve this case because of the high level of public interest," he said. He sees this as an opportunity to discuss what response would reflect Mennonite belief in restorative justice.

Snider said he had encountered four responses to the fire: 1) someone must be punished for this; 2) we can't do anything about crime, we just have to defend ourselves better; 3) let's just forget this and rebuild; and 4) how can we do something redeeming out of this for the community and the individual.

"Our history was tested by fire and now we are faced again with the opportunity to make our Mennonite heritage shine," said Snider.