Denny’s Windmill Restoration Almost Complete

Fasching (far right) inspects the progress on two of the four windmill blades. – Photo by Terry Miller / Beacon Media News

Mid-November slated as tentative schedule for installation

By Terry Miller

It couldn’t happen at a better time of the year, this close to Thanksgiving.

What’s happening, you say? Well, the famous Van De Camp windmill atop of what is now Denny’s in Arcadia will be up and running again thanks to the tireless efforts of one man in particular, George Fasching who spearheaded the initial campaign two years ago to get the windmill turning again.

After exhaustive efforts and an elaborate event to officially turn on the windmill after so many years of non-operation, Fasching and Denny’s CEO John Miller celebrated the occasion with city officials and the community last June.

Within a mere few months, the blades came tumbling down one morning in a freak accident possibly caused by metal fatigue in one of the mechanical components holding the blades. One of the blades sliced a hole through the roof of the iconic building. No one was hurt amazingly enough, but it was a sad day for those involved in getting the historic windmill turning again.

Fasching is quick to point out that the real heroes here are Denny’s CEO, Miller; Ed Meda, the project manager; the city of Arcadia and of course the brilliant fabrication and creative design work of Joe Sargis and his company in Arcadia.

On Thursday, Arcadia Weekly visited Creative Fabrication and Design on St. Joseph Street in Arcadia to see, first-hand, the progress. Here we saw two of the four blades already fabricated and even complete with the lights which will be adjusted according to the season via a computer program. The missing link: just some paint, according to Sargis. Sargis said the structural analysis and the fabrication has taken about a month to complete and the other two blades are almost finished.

Fasching pointed out that Denny’s CEO financed the restoration (again) and no public funds were used on this project. According Arcadia’s city manager, Arcadia waived all the necessary permit fees etc. to help move the project along.

“Yes, we decided to waive the permit fees in order to encourage Denny’s to restore the windmill (valued at approximately $3,500). The Denny’s windmill is an iconic structure in Arcadia. We are happy to partner with Denny’s to ensure that the windmill once again becomes a dramatic entry marker into our historic Downtown. We look forward to seeing those blades spinning for the next 60 years,” said Arcadia City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto.

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