LINCOLN - The Mill sure looks like it's been through the mill.

This quirky former Lincoln restaurant was built to resemble a windmill and even had lighted faux sails that actually turned, thanks to a motor borrowed from a barbecue rotisserie.

The eatery opened in 1929 next to the fabled U.S. 66 and provided food to passers-by, all gone to look for America in the days when the only thing McDonald had was a farm, not a global restaurant chain. But by the early 1990s, the last order was up: Route 66 had long since been overrun by the military efficiency of the Eisenhower Interstate System and The Mill, closed and crumbling, was going the way of all flesh.

But a surprise last course was heralded by the arrival in 2005 of Geoff Ladd as executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County. He was looking to promote connections and objects associated with Route 66 and his optimistic eye soon fell upon the ruins of The Mill. Ladd glimpsed potential where others saw only an eyesore.

"People thought I was totally crazy for wanting to save this place," he says, standing outside and looking at up today's sagging timbers, broken windows and meandering roof line. "But, sometimes, you've got to think outside the box; I like a challenge."

And a challenge he got. The then-owner of the building, who had planned to knock it down, ran into problems over the expense of cleaning up asbestos as part of the intended demolition. He had run afoul of the city, too, racking up unpaid ordinance fines that totaled more than $30,000; the owner was even facing the prospect of being rehoused in the county jail by the time Ladd galloped to the rescue, bearing a dish of compromise.

After much negotiation, the city forgot the fines and the owner agreed to turn the deed over to the newly formed Route 66 Heritage Foundation of Logan County - a group of like-minded souls recruited by Ladd. They finally took possession on Pearl Harbor Day 2006, and now hope The Mill's days of living in infamy are over.

"We want to fix the outside up first to make it a nice photo-attraction type of thing," says Ladd, 45.

"Then, down the road, we'll fix up the inside as a museum featuring restaurant memorabilia and Route 66 history as well."

The restaurant resurrection tab won't be cheap. The foundation is taking out a $25,000 loan to pay for that asbestos removal and demolition of a dilapidated section of the building that's not part of the original restaurant. The total cost, by the time the museum is done and its turning windmill is beckoning to tourists in search of Route 66 Americana, could be pushing $200,000.

The tourism bureau executive director hopes to raise a lot of that from public contributions and believes a campaign to save The Mill couldn't be timed better.

"There is such baby boomer nostalgia for Route 66 and its places and history," says Ladd. "And the 'Cars' movie has been great, too, because it's based on Route 66. It brought in baby boomers to watch and remember the great times, and it's interested a whole new generation of kids, too. Public sentiment is going our way."

One of his fellow believers in the foundation is Brian Huffman, whose family ran The Mill from 1945 to '91. He admits the bill to save the old place is a lot to swallow, but the secret is not to bite off more than the supporters can chew.

"Just take the project one step at a time, and I think we'll get this done," he adds. "It's worth doing because it's a landmark that also has a lot of family history for me. I want to see it carried on for my children."

The new museum also is set to carry on some of the bizarre legacies of the The Mill, including the moving mannequin leg that once protruded through the ceiling. Huffman, who now runs the Hallie's Lunch Box restaurant in town, has the currently nonmoving leg on display in his new business. But he says it could be easily empowered again using a trusty barbecue motor (the original locomotive source) which his practical-joking family harnessed to make the leg jerk around for the amusement of diners.

"My father and grandfather were quite comical and came up with some really weird stuff at times," recalls Huffman, 34. "And I think it would be nice to take a working leg back to The Mill one day, absolutely."

Tony Reid can be reached at treid@herald-review.com or 421-7977.