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Butte Creek Mill: 'It will rise again' Butte Creek Mill owner Bob Russell stands inside the building that was destroyed by fire Christmas morning 2015. The Timber Framers Guild has offered to help in the mill's reconstruction. [Mail Tribune / Andy Atkinson] Wednesday Aug 23, 2017 at 12:02 PM Aug 23, 2017 at 5:32 PM Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune Eagle Point Mayor Bob Russell can’t help but feel slightly optimistic when he looks at the blackened skeleton of his Butte Creek Mill along Royal Avenue. The soot-covered hull of the nearly 150-year-old flour mill, burned in a Christmas Day fire in 2015, still stands alongside the creek that fueled its operations. The fact that anything still stands is a testament to the craftsmanship that went into the building, and is part of why he is optimistic today. “It’s still here because it was built the way that it was," said Russell, who added during a recent tour of the building that the national Timber Framers Guild has vowed to help rebuild the historic mill. "They don’t build them like they used to, but the point is that they can still build them that way,” Russell said. “The structure that is still here is a real tribute to how they put this thing together.” Tribute indeed, said Matt Hunter, owner of Ashland Post and Beam. A member of the Timber Framers Guild for a decade, Hunter said his immediate thought after the mill fire was that the guild would be the best match for the historic site. “I didn’t hear about the mill burning down right away, but as soon as I did hear about it, my immediate thought was, ‘That’s a Timber Framers Guild project if anything is.’ I wanted to find out how we could help right away,” Hunter said. “In the West, and in Southern Oregon, we don’t have a lot of timber-frame structures at all. Certainly there are none that have really withstood the test of time or have any historical significance. Most of what we have left are old pioneer barns, most of which are in pretty bad shape.” Hunter agreed with Russell that the craftsmanship that helped the mill survive the fire was the best method to bring it back. “One of the things about heavy timber, even at the burned mill, you can still see how well the joints were put together in how it’s still holding itself up,” Hunter said. “What is still there is still pretty solid and rigid. It’s charred on the surface, but the wood underneath is still strong. It’s kind of amazing to see how well something that has been around for over a century could survive something fairly catastrophic.” Russell said guild officials had been on hand to help plan the project, which could start next fall, with “many more steps” to happen prior to construction. “They’re going to help us frame it like it’s 1872,” said Russell, who envisions residents and timber framers banding together for an old-fashioned barn raising of sorts. A nonprofit educational organization dedicated to the craft of timber framing, the guild will help facilitate the project and provide framers who will guide the project once reconstruction begins. Workers already are mapping the structure to ensure an identical layout and that the foundation will be able to support the rebuild. Since the fire, Russell and community members have created a nonprofit to aid with the rebuild and with fundraising. Even though his name is on the deed, Russell said the community response to the fire proves that he never really owned the mill. “It always belonged to the community in every way,” Russell said. Russell said a void exists in the small town that can be filled only by the return of the Butte Creek Mill. “It will rise again. The timber framers, as soon as I heard about them, it felt like this could really happen,” Russell said. “Once it’s rebuilt, our goal is that if you were to fast-forward 100 years, it’s going to look exactly like it’s been here since 1872. That’s how we’ll know that it was done right,” he said. “I do get a little bummed out when I come in here, but then I also can picture it right back to how it always was. I said I wouldn’t be involved unless it was going to be identical. And that’s exactly how we’re going to do it.” A golf tournament slated for September is the next fundraiser planned for the mill. T-shirts are also being sold online to fund the project. To learn more, see http://buttecreekmill.com and www.tfguild.org. — Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. Email her at [email protected].