GOLD HILL, Nev. - The American Flat Mill Site outside of Virginia City is now closed to the public. The full closure order went into effect on Friday. Demolition is underway.

"We're in the preliminary stages of demolition," Leon Thomas of the Bureau of Land Management, Carson City District Office said. "We are mobilizing all equipment so we can go ahead and get rolling as far as demolition for the American Flat Mill site."

The area, known to many as American Flats, has been a gathering place for tourists and locals alike since the mill closed in the 1920s. Graffiti covers the crumbling walls that once made up one of the largest concrete structures of its time.

"The place has a warm spot in the hearts of many on the Comstock," said Michael "Bert" Bedeau of the Comstock Historic District Commission. "It's been used over the years for a wide variety of purposes, none of which were particularly sanctioned by the BLM. It was a party site, it was a paint ball place, it's obviously been an attractive place for artists of all styles so it's had a wide variety of uses since it actually declined and became a ruin."

A 2008 report from the Office of the Inspector General listed the site as a potential safety risk.

"There's tagging all over and if you look at the top you wonder, how did people get up there and tag," Thomas said. "People are climbing to the very top of the structures, we have concrete falling, we have Rebar, we have people trying to go into the structures where we have standing water where people can fall in and drown, hit their heads, so there were several safety issues we were concerned about at this site."

The plan is to complete demolition by next February and then restore the area with natural vegetation, add interpretive panels and open the area back up by 2016.

"We are doing a full interpretation of what was here before," Thomas said. "We're doing a diorama for the history museum, we have done a full historic American Engineering record that gives a full-blown view of the buildings inside and out before demolition that will be held with the National Park Service and we're doing a 15-minute documentary illustrating the site."

UNR Journalism Professor Howard Goldbaum has photographed the site extensively and is in the process of creating a virtual tour of the grounds and buildings.

"From various vantage points on the hillsides you can click into the center of the structures and you will be able to go into each of the buildings, point by point, 360 degrees and up and down," Goldbaum said. "When completed, the project will have more than 120 different points going into the buildings, into the system of tunnels and up to the Virginia & Truckee Railroad in the hills above."

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American Flat Mill Site Closed; Demolition Underway

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November 16, 2014 at 5:07 pm by Mr HomeBuilder
Category: Demolition