The historic Enterprise Flour & Grist Mill is located at the most visible and important crossroads in downtown Braselton, at the intersection of GA Hwy 53 and Frances Street. The mill was constructed c. 1900 by the Braselton Brothers as part of a larger complex of businesses started around the turn of the 20th Century in the downtown section of the town they founded.
The mill was once considered one of the more modern operations for converting grain into flour and is considered to be the first full roller process flour mill in Northeast Georgia. It was capable of producing flour and meal at a higher rate than had been seen in the region up until this time. The mill operated through the mid 1960s before closing its doors. The three story,
wood-framed building survived a tornado that hit the town in 1920. In 2010, the town stabilized and weatherized the building, preserving the structure and all the original equipment. To this day the equipment remains completely intact.
Although this work saved the historic building, the Town struggled with how to use this historic resource located at the town’s center. In 2019, Arcollab was hired to perform a feasibility study and develop options for the best ways to showcase the historic building while also adapting it for current and future use. Several options were studied, and it was determined that incorporating a compatible addition would be the best approach. The design minimizes modification of the existing building to less than 1,200 square feet which will provide office space for the Visitors Bureau Authority (VBA). The addition was designed to be leasable office space that will deliver an income stream for the VBA. This will allow the historic mill to remain on display as a museum that celebrates Braselton’s history.
The addition is articulated with a one-story glass lobby to create a hyphen between the historic mill and the new addition. This minimizes visual and physical alterations to the existing mill. The new lobby provides a new primary public entrance to receive visitors entering from the town’s center. This new entry axis between the mill and the addition is strengthened by a raised boardwalk that forms a bridge from the town’s public sidewalk to the front door and allows the existing topography and stormwater management to be unaffected. The addition’s entry sequence is expressed with an exposed steel frame that reinterprets the historic character of the mill. The addition’s new offices, along with the public functions of the Visitors Bureau Authority, are the perfect marriage of uses, and the buildings’ architecture work in tandem to celebrate the past and future.
