Board OKs $68,000 in repairs to iconic kilns

The Grafton Village Board approved $68,000 in emergency repairs to the kilns at Lime Kiln Park on Monday.

Village staff had noticed in January that bricks were falling off the landmark kilns and fenced the area off. 

A site survey conducted by the masonry restoration company Holton Brothers found structural issues with the center kiln that has a “significant bow” with one side heaving outward, Village Administrator Jesse Thyes said. 

Parks and Recreation Director Chad Hoier said last month that all of the kilns need tuckpointing.

“The kilns are quite old and they have been neglected,” he said. “The mortar inside the stone and brick area is deteriorating.

“People go around and pull on stuff.”

Holton Brothers completed the most recent repairs to the kilns about 20 years ago.

The kilns that date to 1890 were used by the Milwaukee Falls Lime Company to produce lime, which is used in construction and agriculture, from Dolomite ore mined from the quarry at the site, according to village documents. The quarry was later filled and the area became Lime Kiln Park.

The kilns stopped operating in the 1920s.

The village will pay for the repairs out of its general fund.

Also on Monday, the Finance and Personnel Committee recommended spending $156,529 to repave the upper and lower level parking lots at Lime Kiln Park.

According to village documents, the parking lots are “in rough shape and current pavement is past its life expectancy with areas cracking, crumbling and turning to gravel in spots.”

The repaving would be done by the Ozaukee County Highway Department with Grafton Department of Public Works staff assisting in removing asphalt and grading.

The cost is only an estimate and would depend on the actual time and material it takes to complete the repaving.

The village plans to use its remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds that would total $111,000 when the project starts in May.

ARPA funds expire at the end of next year.

The remaining $45,520 price tag for the repaving would be covered by the village’s Park and Open Space Fund and general fund balance.

Splitting the cost between the funds would keep a fund balance in the park fund suitable for emergencies and capital improvement plan projects, according to village documents.

The parking lot project was budgeted for this year and still needs to be approved by the Village Board.