Crap
2003-01-25 - 4:41 p.m.
Peerless Mill Inn goes up in flames
Owner of historic restaurant says he plans to rebuild
By Cathy Mong
e-mail address: [email protected]
Dayton Daily News
MIAMISBURG | The old Peerless Mill Inn, housed in a building nearly as old as Miamisburg itself, was gutted by fire Friday.
The restaurant's owner, Gary Wiegele of Cincinnati, who was in an upstairs office when he smelled smoke from the front dining room, said he plans to rebuild.
"I've already talked to the insurance company," he said, standing with throngs of curious onlookers on the building's south side, watching the flames lick through the roof and siding.
"It'll be a while, but I'm told I can get 'replacement' value. The only thing I won't be able to replace is the charm."
No loss was set on the structure at 317 S. Second St., which dates to 1828, one decade after four settlers platted the 90 lots that formed the nucleus of the original city.
Miamisburg firefighters were dispatched to the restaurant about 2:07 p.m. Assistance was provided by Franklin, West Carrollton, Moraine, Miami Twp. and Washington Twp. fire departments.
Wiegele said eight employees were in the building with himpreparing to open at 5 p.m. as well as the start of the 100 or so reservations made for Friday's dinner.
"I was up in the office and smelled smoke," Wiegele said. "All of a sudden, I saw the smoke, walked in there, looked up and saw flames licking at the big old beams."
He told his employees to leave the building, and he went back to salvage the computer, which contained the business records. "I had to climb out the upper door and get out," he said.
The Peerless Mill Inn, thought to be the oldest restaurant in continuous operation in Montgomery County, opened as the Peerless Pantry in 1929. It later became the Peerless Mill Inn. It was put up for auction in the fall of 1997 by then-owners Barbara and Donald Walsh, who owned it since 1980. Wiegele bought it from the Walshes two years ago, he said.
Wiegele said patrons from Cincinnati, Middletown, Dayton and other communities frequented the restaurant, which was known "mostly for the charm of the place. It also had excellent service and foods."
"This is a piece of Miamisburg history," said Tom Schneider, 54, of Waynesville, who grew up a street over on Mound Street, and whose father, William, was an assistant fire chief years ago. "He always wondered when it was going to go up," he said.
The history of the building started in 1828 when the Great Peerless Mills drew power from the recently completed Miami and Erie Canal. Farmers loaded their grain for the grist mill, and the village grew and incorporated into a village in 1832 and a city 100 years later.
The restaurant featured flagstone floors and the beamed ceiling, along with colonial-era antiques in the original Mill Room.
"I was there Sunday for the brunch," said Jim Lenz, 74, who has lived in Miamisburg all his life and whose mother worked as a secretary at the mills. "I know people who drove quite a ways to try the duck," he said. "That was one of its specialties."
Miamisburg City Manager John Weithofer, bundled against the below-freezing temperatures, looked at the burning building and shook his head.
"It's just a nightmare," he said. "It's a tragic loss. It's a great building with a lot of history. It's definitely a sad, sad event. All that can be said is hopefully when it's all done, it can come back."
