Workers repairing the old silos. Courtesy | Dave Wheeler

Dave Wheeler, the CEO of Mar-Vo Mineral Co., hopes to bring a rock climbing wall, a restaurant, and a mural to the former F.W. Stock and Sons Mill.

“The silos would make a great climbing wall, the largest of its kind in the country,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler also proposed the idea of a restaurant across the top of the silos. For now, he is focusing on a mural, and former City Economic Development Coordinator Mary Wolfram is working with Wheeler to secure the permit.

“Dave spent much of his summer on a boom lift sanding and priming the silos with his daughter,” Mary Wolfram said. “He really is serious about doing this for the community.”

While there is no timeline yet for the larger project, Wheeler said he has begun talking with contractors, researching the necessary permits, and making the needed repairs to the facility.

Wheeler purchased the property in 2015 for his mineral processing company “Lucky Buck,” which makes salt licks for deer. When Mar-Vo Mineral Co., Lucky Buck’s parent company, first bought the site, there were holes running five floors deep where some of the machinery used to sit, Wheeler said.

Since then, Wheeler said he has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into renovating the mill, including $100,000 for a new freight elevator to access all five warehouse floors.

Though the Lucky Buck products can’t be sold in Michigan and are heavily regulated in 31 other states, Wheeler said the company has still seen exponential growth in demand through their exports to other parts of the country.

“We are consistently expanding at about 20% each year, and while we aren’t using the entire property currently, we will continue to grow into it in the coming years,” Wheeler said.

As the company has grown, Wheeler said he has considered ways to give back to the community and take advantage of the fortress-like facility.

Wolfram said she remembers the last time the mill was bustling with activity.

“It was 1989 when my husband and I moved into Hillsdale,” Wolfram said. “I distinctly remember the dozens of Dunkin’ trucks I would see coming in and out of town. I soon learned that the Donut Company of America owned the mill, and they were a primary supplier of the mix that was needed to make donuts.”

Pillsbury purchased the facility from DCA in 2002, and in the years following, ownership changed multiple times with various companies buying the property to strip away valuable machinery.

City Councilman Gary Wolfram, professor of economics and husband to Mary Wolfram, said it is a miracle nobody was ever injured while exploring the empty mill.

“The site quickly became the place to go for adventurous Hillsdale students over the period that it sat vacant,” Wolfram said.

Students would often explore the ins and outs of the sprawling facility, according to Wolfram, and some would even climb to the top of the four silos for the view.

Wheeler said he hopes the renovations will let students and residents see the downtown view safely again.