Peerless Mill Re-Opens

Some Good News! (reprinted from the Miamisburg-West Carrollton News - 10 Dec 2004)

After nearly two years of extensive work, Miamisburg’s historic Peerless Mill Inn is open.When fire destroyed the roof and most of the building’s upper level on Jan. 23, 2003, it looked doubtful that the restaurant would reopen, but owner Gary Wiegele made a pledge that he would restore the Peerless Mill.After months of labor, the 176-year-old inn has been restored as a fine dining restaurant - a restaurant that is better than it was before, but still has the historic charm it was known for.The restaurant opened for Thanksgiving dinner and it was packed as patrons flocked to see what had risen from the ashes.“The contractors did an unbelievable job,” said Wiegele. “We wanted to recreate the old place as well as we could, but also make improvements that would lead to better customer service.“And we did,” he said.Customers will find the same rustic atmosphere, familiar menu items and customer service improved by the conveniences of a modern kitchen, said Wiegele. “The workers were able to salvage beams, posts and barn wood and use them in the restoration,” he said. “These were cleaned up, sandblasted and put back into the construction.“And during the cleanup we found the original brick floor in the Heritage Room,” said Wiegele.Wooden beams and fireplaces grace every dining area in the historic inn, many of them made with original materials of the building.“I had a vision of what I wanted,” said Wiegele. “I knew there were problems with the building as it was.“The procedures were wrong and the traffic flow in the building created a bottleneck for the servers,” he said. “It was almost a good thing what happened because it gave us a chance to fix things, modernize and improve the restaurant.”One of those improvements is the Lockhouse Tavern, which has replaced the former bar. It has a U-shaped bar, booths, TV monitors and a separate entrance. The kitchen has been expanded to 3,000 square feet, about three times the size of the former kitchen.A new hallway leads patrons from the entrance to the rear dining areas.The work on the restoration is not finished yet, said Wiegele. There still remains much work on the outside of the building to do and the management and staff are still “working out the bugs” and serving only a limited holiday menu at the present.“One change we did make immediately is we are now open for lunch and dinner seven days a week,” said Wiegele. “We’re no longer closed on Mondays like we used to be.”By January, the restaurant will have a new, larger dinner menu.“Our new menu will be six pages long, instead of the two page menus we had originally,” said Wiegele. “We will offer an extensive variety of lots of different kinds of good food.”Wiegele said the inn will also continue to offer one of the most extensive wine lists in the Miami Valley, including wines bottled under the Peerless Mill Inn label.Also, beginning in January, the Lockhouse Tavern will have a happy hour and feature live music.“We’re very happy with the response from our customers since we’ve opened,” said Wiegele. “We hope everyone will bear with us for a little while we work out the bugs in our operation.”The Peerless Mill Inn, located at 317 S. Second Street, began in 1828, 33 years before the Civil War, as a grist and lumber mill along the old Miami & Erie Canal that had just been built through Miamisburg. The 175-year-old mill is only 10 years younger than the city of Miamisburg itself.In 1929, the lumber mill was closed and turned into a restaurant called “The Peerless Pantry,” named after an owner of the structure, Peerless Waters. Ultimately, the name was changed to the Peerless Mill Inn.It is thought to be the oldest restaurant in continuous operation in Montgomery County.

- posted by Mikey @ 9:14 AM