As of the end of 2023, the Mill at Freedom Falls has been sold to our sole tenant, The Lost
Kitchen (www.findthelostkitchen.com).

The Mill School closed in 2022, and The Lost Kitchen took over that portion of the Mill building
and grounds previously used by the school. The hydropower operation, utilizing Natel Energy’s
Restoration Hydro Turbine D-55 (patent pending), will continue to be in operation, powering
the Mill building and other facilities owned by The Lost Kitchen.

We started this project uncertain as to what the rehabilitation might lead to, but were
convinced that this building needed to be preserved and hoped that in doing so we might bring
new life to Freedom’s town center and serve the community and economy of western Waldo
County.  At a minimum, we figured the project was worthwhile in just extending the life of this
almost 200-year-old building, and we were able to get the Mill listed on the National Register of
Historic Places which reestablishes its central place in the community.  In addition, we saw an
opportunity to provide low impact hydropower in a world desperate for solutions to climate
change that do more good than harm. Compass Light Productions (www.compasslight.com)
produced a short documentary film as we were rehabilitating the Mill. It can be found at:
https://vimeo.com/75880834; Password: mill).

As it turns out, we got incredibly lucky.

First, Laurie Redmond and Polly Shyka approached us about starting a school to serve the
children in the County who were being home schooled. Laurie and Amanda Jamison opened
The Mill School in the fall of 2013, serving 20 children each year from kindergarten through
eighth grade.  Much of their curriculum was focused on that special piece of land where the
Mill is situated.  Many community members donated items to the school and volunteered their
time, and the Town generously allowed them to use Mitchell Field for some of their outdoor
activities.  They ran the school until 2022. 

Second, Erin French approached us about starting a restaurant in the downstairs of the
building- our second woman-owned business. Neither she nor we had any idea of what that
modest idea would lead to.  The Lost Kitchen has become known across the country, in part
because of its location in Freedom and the warmth of the old building, and is providing a
significant employment base for many Waldo County residents.  The Lost Kitchen has also
generously used their notoriety to raise over $1 million over the last two years for local farmers
devastated by PFAS contamination and local residents in need of food assistance.
Third, we established a working partnership with a start-up company in California, Natel Energy
(www.natelenergy.com).  Natel has installed a state-of-the-art hydroelectric turbine that
allows safe fish passage during its operation and uses this site as both a demonstration site for
future customers as well as a real-world test site for their continuing innovations.  The turbine
now generates about 70 MWh of power each year.

Last and not least, the reconstruction allowed us to work with the Town Volunteer Fire
Department to install a “wet” hydrant to serve the firefighters’ needs as they serve not only
Freedom, but the neighboring towns as well. 

We feel blessed to have found this opportunity and are very proud of how the Mill has served
the Town and County, enabling The Mill School and The Lost Kitchen to become the incredible
successes they have been.

We look forward to supporting The Lost Kitchen in any way we can as they continue to build a
vibrant, successful business serving the Town of Freedom and western Waldo County and
drawing an audience from around the world to appreciate this inspiring place and the joy of an
unsurpassed farm-to-table dining experience.

In December 2019, Natel Energy installed their latest turbine, the Restoration Hydro Turbine (RHT D55 - patent pending).  This new turbine is a Francis type, as opposed to the linear Pelton machine that was installed in 2017.

With Natel’s help, we modified the civil works - penstock shape, concrete layout, generator location, etc.  We also chose to install an electronic system for closing the knife gate out at the dam for better operational control.  Once these modifications were complete, the installation of the turbine went very smoothly.  Natel had us up and running in a matter of weeks.  By the time (mid-June 2020) the water levels got too low to operate, we had generated as much power as we anticipated for a full calendar year.  This turbine is significantly more efficient than the earlier design, and we were operating at above 32-kWh when the flows were sufficient, a significantly higher rate than before.

At long last our 30kW hydropower unit has been installed and is operating.  It is a Free-Jet hydroEngine® from Natel Energy of Alameda, California.  Below are an explanatory schematic drawing of the hydropower system and photos of the installation.
 
All the parts (round-to-square adapter, nozzle, cassette and cassette housing, generator and all the control panels) were delivered to the site in May 2016.  With a team from Natel here, we were able to get all the parts assembled and operating by the end of the month.
 
That allowed us to put the unit into operation and conduct a series of operational tests.  Unfortunately, we in Maine experienced a serious drought, starting about then, and as a result were only able to run short tests without drawing down the pond levels.
 
The good news was that we had plenty of down time to make a series of modifications to the turbine parts and operations, including shipping the cassette and its housing back to Alameda for Natel to make some modifications in their plant.  We also could install the downstream eel passage without having to deal with heavy water flows.
 
The turbine became fully operational by the end of October, but still no water.  Again, that allowed us to further refine the control mechanisms and to get into the cold weather to explore the various issues of operating the hydropower in below-zero conditions.  Working with Natel our project manager, Jim Rorden, and our electrician, Davey Small, devised a series of protection mechanisms to manage all conditions (including the grid going down for an extensive period as a result of a winter storm).
 
The drought conditions continued until just the last couple of weeks when we have finally gotten some decent rain and snowfall in Freedom.  We are anticipating beginning routine operations shortly, with only one or two technical issues still to be worked out, including final user-friendly software that will allow us to monitor and manage the unit’s performance electronically.  At this point the team from Natel is still managing the unit remotely from Alameda as they monitor performance.

Click below to view a higher quality picture of the schematic drawing shown above:

Other News
 
The Mill continues to be a vibrant community asset.
 
The Mill School currently operates in the second floor of the renovated mill building. Fully enrolled for its fourth year, the school continues to provide an exciting, innovative educational program for children ages 6 to 14.

The Lost Kitchen has just wound up its third year.  This restaurant has experienced great success, with lots of critical acclaim and now operates from April through December on a one-seating, “prix fixe” menu, four nights a week.  They will open for reservations on April 1 for 2017 and last year booked up for the entire year by the end of that first week of April.  Also, Erin French has produced a cookbook, published by Random House, entitled “The Lost Kitchen: Recipes and a Good Life Found in Freedom, Maine”.  It will be released on May 2, 2017.

Installation of the hydropower system at the Mill is finally underway. About a month ago we finalized our contract with Natel Energy who is supplying the hydro turbine. We have settled on a 30kW system, which should generate between 60 and 70 Megawatts per year. Since completing the contract, we have been hard at work preparing for delivery of the turbine, which will happen next March.

That prep work has included building the plinth on which the turbine will sit, constructing a weir that will maintain the water level in the tailrace, stabilizing the bank that forms one side of the tailrace, building temporary structures to hold the penstock in place until the thrust block is built around it, and sliding the 40-foot straight section of the penstock into place. Next steps will include: building the thrust block; installing the pond level sensor; installing the eel passage pipe above and below the dam, along with its gates and valves so it can be opened and closed to allow eels to pass downstream in the fall, and finishing the bank stabilization concrete work.

Then in the Spring, when the turbine and generator are delivered by Natel, the penstock will be attached to the opening in the dam at one end and the turbine at the other, and the final electrical hook-up will be completed.

We have made it through the long winter, with The Mill School in full swing. Now we are in the midst of "fit-out" for The Lost Kitchen. We are hopeful that work will be completed in time for Erin French and her team to be up and running before June.

We are also still working with Natel Energy on the hydropower system. We will likely install the penstock and other hardware this summer and then hook up the new turbine when it is delivered in early 2015. That is later than we had hoped, but Natel is doing some re-design which will lower the cost and improve the efficiency of the unit as it will work at this site with its relatively low flows ( a 7 1/2 acre watershed) and high head (25 feet).

We also will be doing some more site work this spring, expanding the parking area, finishing the school play area and various woods work to clean up the damage from the ice storm this winter. This work will also include some work in the stream to divert flows in the winter and at high water events away from the building foundation and into the main stream channel. Lastly, we have retained Ron Harvey of Tuckerbrook Conservation in Lincolnville to help stabilize the two original millstones on display outside the mill in order to prevent their deterioration now that they are exposed to the elements.

Also, here is a link to watch the documentary Reviving the Freedom Mill (password: mill).

On Saturday December 28th, 2013, from 4 - 5:30 PM at the Mill at Freedom Falls, there will be a showing of the documentary film titled Reviving the Freedom Mill. The 30 minute film chronicles the renovation of the Mill and was produced and directed by David Conover of Compass Light Productions in Camden.  Admission is free and will be followed by people telling their favorite stories and reciting poetry about winter in Maine.  All are welcome and we look forward to seeing you there!

Here is a link if you would like to watch the movie online.  Password is: mill

The rehabilitation of the mill is substantially complete at this point, as shown in the attached photos. We can't thank the construction team enough for their incredibly professional work and the care they took in seeing that this rehabilitation was done to the highest standards, allowing this building to live again, hopefully for the next 200 years. The hydropower installation will wait until the fall of 2014, as we are waiting for some turbine design refinements from the manufacturer, which should make it more efficient in its production of electricity to power the mill, with the excess going into the grid.

We are thrilled to have our third tenant signed up:  Erin French's restaurant, The Lost Kitchen will occupy the main floor of the original mill and will utilize much of the new foundation under the western and southern additions. We will be doing fit-out for her over the next few months and then she will be ready to go in the late winter/early spring. With The Mill School occupying the western additions and the second floor and the Maine Federation of Farmers' Markets in an office in the northern addition, we are fully occupied.

We have on display in the basement items, large and small, that were discovered in deconstructing the old mill. These are displayed in a small "museum" area in the foundation. There are also before and after photos there, as well as a list of the individuals who worked on this project and some posters explaining the mill's history and operation, first as a gristmill and then as a woodturning mill.

We have been pleased to have had many visitors to both the mill and the grounds. Now that the building is fully occupied, it will be locked after hours, but we will continue to have the building open during the daytime for visits as long as someone is around. Once the fit-out work for The Lost Kitchen has been completed, we will establish a more formal visiting routine.

We are also pleased to have a completed film documenting the project which premiered at the Camden International Film Festival on September 29. David Conover of Compass Light Productions in Camden produced and directed the film. The film will be shown on MPBN, at a date and time that have not yet been set, as well as at various events and venues around the state. At some point we will have DVDs available.  Many thanks also to Maine Farmland Trust, Maine Preservation and GrowSmart Maine.

Thanks,
Tony

During the upcoming Mill open house from 8:30 - 3:30 on July 6, there will be an Old Time Music Circle with Orono's Sam Furth and friends from 1-3 at the Mill.  Jamming is encouraged – all ages, all talents, so bring your instruments!  We hope to see you at the open house which runs from 8:30 - 3:30 as part of the Freedom Bicentennial Celebration.

As the building work is finishing up (the floors were finished last week), we have turned to outdoor activities. The major event was the installation of the bridge over the dam on Sandy Stream. Next week we will be removing the coffer dam installed in anticipation of Sandy Stream. Then we will be set for Freedom's Bicentennial Celebration on July 5/6, with our open house on the 6th.