YORKTON, Sask. — The interpretive centre at the restored Yorkton Brick Flour Mill will carry the Anuik family name in recognition of $300,000 in donations from local businessman Ernie Anuik and his family.
The Yorkton Brick Mill Heritage Society announced Nov. 5 that the facility will be known as the Anuik Family Interpretive Centre, recognizing three contributions that helped support the preservation of one of Saskatchewan's most significant historic industrial sites.
"This significant contribution supports the society's work to preserve Yorkton's historic brick flour mill," Heritage Society president Larry Pearen said. "It will also help develop the new centre as a welcoming place to celebrate agriculture, share local history and host community activities."
The naming announcement comes only weeks after the interpretive centre officially opened beside the historic mill on Livingstone Street.
Speaking at the ceremony, Yorkton city councillor and deputy mayor Randy Goulden said the project represents years of work by volunteers and community supporters who refused to let the building disappear.
"There was a time when the future of this building was uncertain, but people in Yorkton saw something of worth in this centre," Goulden said. "The Heritage Society and its volunteers kept at it year after year after year, through restoration, through fundraising, through construction."
The restoration project received support from federal and provincial governments, the City of Yorkton, Yorkton Tribal Council, local businesses, donors and volunteers, she said.
Goulden noted the site now stands as Saskatchewan's only remaining brick flour mill and serves as a place where residents and visitors can learn about the role agriculture and milling played in the development of the region.
"It's a place to learn. It's a place to gather and to keep those stories alive," she said.
"Generosity is more than a financial investment," said Doug Forster, president of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce. "It's an investment in our history, our identity and our future."
Ernie Anuik said preserving the mill was important because of its connection to the area's agricultural history and the generations who relied on it.
"My family and I are very humbled and honoured to be a part of this project and undertaking," Anuik said.
A third-generation Canadian whose family regularly visited the mill, Anuik recalled childhood memories of waiting in line with farmers delivering grain and watching railway operations nearby.
"The mill has a really rich history," he said. "Everybody needed flour. No matter what you did, how rich you were, how poor you were, where you started, everybody needed flour and it was a central point in the community."
Anuik said his support for the project was driven by a desire to preserve the site and recognize the efforts of previous generations.
"For me the biggest buy-in was to preserve this mill, to recognize previous generations and the hard work that they put in to make life better for us," he said.
The Yorkton Brick Flour Mill, believed to be among the oldest surviving industrial buildings in the city, has undergone extensive restoration in recent years. The adjoining interpretive centre was developed to showcase the history of agriculture, milling and community development in east-central Saskatchewan.
