2014.01.15 - Milliken Design Guidelines

Existing Conditions
Design Guidelines Focus Areas – Grain Elevator
Chapter 2: Existing Conditions
Grain Elevator
The Grain Elevator is the least developed and
programmed of the Design Guidelines focus area
sites. Acquired by the Town of Milliken in 20??, the
Grain Elevator is currently vacant, and the site
around the structures used only for overflow
parking. Although the building is unused, there are
many ideas for its redevelopment and adaptive
reuse, and looking at the economic viability of some
of these options will be the first step in determining
a program for the building and site.
Despite the building not having an active use, its
location at the eastern entrance into downtown
provides an important visual gateway into the
community. Its iconic architecture and historic
importance to Milliken’s history as a
farming/railroad community also give it status as a
memorable and vital manifestation of community
pride. During initial discussions with stakeholders,
the cultural value of the Grain Elevator was stressed,
and community members are very interested in
having it renovated and reused.
The Grain Elevator site is actually comprised of a
number of buildings, each related to its past use as a
storage, processing and loading area for agricultural
crops. The westernmost building has a multi-story
silo-type wooden structure to the north, which is
connected to a single-story brick building to the
south. On the east side, there are two steel-clad
structures – the northern structure is a multi-story
unpainted wood frame building, and appears to be a
grain/vegetable storage silo. The southern building
is a 1.5 story steel structure with a concrete
foundation, that appears to have functioned as a
storage and loading area for railroad cars and autos.
A loading dock spans the southeastern edge of this
structure. An abandoned railroad line runs between
the western and eastern building complexes. NOTE:
The eastern buildings are not owned by the Town,
and are not part of the Grain Elevator project area.
Around the buildings, remnants of functional
elements remain, however, much of the site has
been cleared and the Town has erected a ‘for lease’
sign advertising it as a potentially useful property.
The Town has also installed several historic art
pieces on the southwestern building façade, which
depict early historic themes related to agriculture,
the railroad, and the historic downtown.
View northeast toward Grain Elevator
From a landscape perspective, the largest
undeveloped portion of the site is on the southwest
corner, which exists as a largely dirt parking lot
today. This undeveloped corner is adjacent to the
‘Kids and Cops” Police Station playground, and has
high visibility from Broad Street. Recently, a hot dog
vendor cart has been using this corner to set up her
cart and sell food and drinks in the afternoons/
evenings. Apart from the hot dog cart, there are no
other active existing or planned uses for the site and
buildings.
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