The Grist Mill

New life breathed into Consecon landmark

The grist mill on Division Boulevard isn’t easily missed as the sprawling structure anchors the village of Consecon. Towering skyward, it sits beside the picturesque Consecon Mill Pond and dam and is a reminder of the once-bustling community that existed here. The original grist mill, built in 1808, burned to the ground in 1882, then its replacement perished in 1931, meaning the vast structure underwent several rebuilds. Archibald Marsh took on the task of building Consecon’s first grist mill, and by the 19th century Consecon was booming. Richard Baldwin purchased the mill in 1949, when an old freight shed from the railway station was added, together with the tall section remaining today.

As mills phased out, the building’s direction changed and it was the 1950s that brought the transformation of something completely new, breathing fresh life into the village once again. After yet another fire, the mill was converted into apartments, commercial space and a pub. About a decade ago, it opened as Cascades Pub and Grill, operating for half a dozen years, when it changed hands to The Mill for just one season. Known as the western gateway to Prince Edward County, the latest chapter in the history of Consecon comes with Brittiny Blodgett and the opening of The Grist Mill. The busy grand opening Saturday afternoon gave locals the opportunity to taste some Texas-style barbecue food along with local brews and wines, seated outdoors to ensure compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols. Open for self-guided tours, the public were able to see the renovations and updates made to the historic mill.

Brittiny Blodgett, new owner of the The Grist Mill in Consecon.

As a wedding planner, Blodgett plans to use the second floor as a wedding space. “That’s my inspiration and why I did this for a wedding venue, but as I spoke to a lot of locals as we were renovating, they expressed a lot of interest in this place opening back up as a bar,” says Blodgett. “It was Cascades at one point and it was beloved in this area and I thought I can give them that as well.” Leasing the space from its Toronto owners, she explains how use of the former mill will be two-fold: 2021 will see weddings on Saturdays, with Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays offering food.

Matty Boy Barbecue, who catered the grand opening, will be at The Grist Mill every Saturday through the remainder of 2020, with a different food truck or pop-up caterer on other days, and starting September 19, there will be live music, mostly on Saturdays. “We are really doing it for the locals,” says Blodgett, who says she doesn’t have a passion for opening a restaurant. The plan is for bar service and sandwiches (Flossie’s, for example) at lunchtime and a pop-up caterer for dinner, all while trying to keep it as simple as possible.

“I did extensive research because I wanted to know about the building, but also what it meant to the town,” she says. “This place burnt to the ground several times and it just kept resurrecting as another mill: it’s a real structure and it’s in the middle of this residential area and it’s evolved as a bar for people to gather. A lot of locals who grew up around the area remember it as the grist mill that was here or the feed store.” Originally from New York, Blodgett currently lives with her young family in Stirling. “I met my husband when we both went to school in New York City and he’s from Stirling originally,” says Blodgett. “We got pregnant and came to Stirling because it was just the better place to raise a child.“ While she would like to move to Prince Edward County, she admits finding something affordable that isn’t snapped up in a matter of days is challenging.

History lives here where the two-storey space exudes warmth; the exposed wood softening the industrial mill workings that remain in place on both levels, but especially the upper storey. While still a work in progress, Blodgett has put a lot into making changes and renovating the space to make it her own, ensuring a subtle retro chic feel to the rustic structure. A newly constructed bar (larger than the old one), changes to the kitchen, rebuilt washrooms and improvement to the main floor dining area are among the updates.

As a wedding planner since 2013, she opened her own business in 2018. “I decided to be an independent wedding planner, but I also moved here and it was a big transition,” says Blodgett. “I just had my daughter and I started my wedding planning business when she was four months old. It’s been really fun and I didn’t expect my business to go wild like it did. I expected it to start-up slow, but there was a market at the time.” Because she cannot take on any more weddings, she is building a team of planners to help with the demand. “I have an event coordinator for this space and she does all the bookings for weddings and that’s super important for me, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do this.”

“My bread and butter through the winter is going to be the locals, so I want to make them happy: I want locals night, live music and open mic for them, and they were very expressive about me carrying their favourite beer, OV [Old Vienna], although I am having a hard time finding it,” she laughs. Breathing life back into the historic space, locals tell her it is wonderful the building will be used again. “It has this beautiful deck along the river and it was just sitting empty, so it has to be used,” she says. “I have been here for three years and I feel I’ve accomplished a lot while having a toddler; I feel really proud of that and it feels as if it’s all come organically, things happened like they were meant to be, but it was also a lot of hard work.”