In the last six months, the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum has been on an impressive run of securing grant funding for critical repairs and restoration to its 1898 Smoky Valley Roller Mills and 1904 Worlds Fair Swedish Pavilion buildings – about $120,000 in funding.

On April 28, however, the museum and the McPherson County Community Foundation announced a single grant that’s more than all of those combined – $162,810 from the David J. Nutt Fund.

This large grant will go entirely to restoration of the Swedish Pavilion.

Caroline de Filippis, Community Development Director, said it will cover two aspects – windows and painting – not only repairing the peeling exterior and disintegrating windows, but also restoring them to a more historically accurate state.

“The project will cover a redo of the windows of the Swedish Pavilion to the original design of ‘top pivot’,” she said. “And then we have the repainting of the entire building exterior.”

Currently, the pavilion has “drop” style windows, which were a later departure from the original 1904 architecture. As the windows have deteriorated, the resulting gaps have let in the cold and pest species such as wasps.

The restored paint will also return the nearly 120-year-old building to its original “Swedish Yellow” exterior.

“It’s in dire need,” de Filippis said. “Especially the windows, it’s not weatherproof anymore, so it really needs some repair.”

Executive Director Lenora Lynam said that everyone involved with the museum is sincerely thankful for the generous grant.

“This need isn’t just an aesthetic improvement or a ‘would-be-nice’ cosmetic coat of paint,” she said. “It was truly nearing the point where it was a question of whether this rare building could continue to stand and remain open to the public. It would have been a truly tragic loss, but thanks to this grant, we’ve taken many large steps back from the risk of falling off that cliff. This will mean the Pavilion is preserved and improved for years to come.”

The David J. Nutt Fund is named after the Lindsborg resident who passed away in 2017 and whose namesake provides grant funds for charitable causes located in Lindsborg. The fund has supported more than 100 programs and organizations in Lindsborg since its establishment with $1.35 million to the community across half a decade.