After over a decade of intense fundraising, the Yorkton Brick Mill Interpretive Centre finally opened its doors to the public on Wednesday. Quite the crowd gathered on Wednesday to listen to emotion-filled speeches by dignitaries and members of the board. Attendance was tied to pre-registration due to the high volume of interest. The grand opening ceremony officially inaugurated the new space as it is intended to be used: a gathering place for events and education. “[The mill] building once faced the wrecking ball and now stands beside a modern, accessible interpretive centre that welcomes visitors, young and old,” Larry Pearen said on Wednesday. Pearen, who is the president of the Brick Mill Heritage Society, began his speech with a story from 2010 when he was sitting on Yorkton city council. “We were discussing taking off the designation of the building,” Pearen recalled. “Sheila Harris, Sharon Pickup, and Carol Bolt are the ones who made the delegation and said, ‘Don’t knock it down.’” Council said they would give a one-year reprieve and see if the newly formed committee could come up with some funds to save the mill, which, according to Pearen, is the oldest building in Yorkton. “[Their] vision and determination began with that effort that brought celebration today,” he said. The mill was built by John Joseph Smith and operated under a variety of names until its closure in the early 1990s. Members of the Smith family were among the audience, celebrating the legacy of their ancestor, the original owner. But the Brick Mill carries the stories of dozens, if not hundreds, of families in Yorkton and area. Ernie Anuik, who grew up outside Yorkton, is the third generation to have a relationship with the mill. “It is very dear to my heart,” Anuik told CTV News. “It was one of the occasions to come to the city of Yorkton from 25 miles away, just to go to the mill to get a supply of flour in exchange for providing the grain.” According to Anuik, the old mill was more than just a place to trade farm goods. “A trip to the city in the holidays also meant a social outing,” he explained. “You met with your neighbours, you talked to people you’d never seen before. It was a meeting place, just like the barber.” Stories like his family’s are like the bricks that made the mill, turning the old building into what it is today, a landmark. In the halls of the new complex inaugurated on Wednesday are stories of Yorkton-area families, including Ernie Anuik’s, the Pearens’, and even Saskatchewan Minister of Trade and Export Development Warren Kaeding’s story. These recollections are accessible through QR codes hanging from the walls, one of the first contemporary additions to the interpretive centre. “We don’t want static [displays] where you go to the museum and nothing changes for five years,” Pearen shared their vision. “We want to have things where you push a button and put on glasses [for] the next generation.” The society’s grandiose plans call for future funding, not something they plan to sleep on now that the centre is open. “I will continue writing grants,” Pearen joked. In the past decade and a half, the old Brick Mill building and adjacent interpretive centre have received about $3.5 million in funding from all levels of government, organizations such as the Yorkton Tribal Council, and individual donors through a variety of fundraisers. This doesn’t include the countless hours local tradespeople and volunteers have put into the redevelopment process. “I would love to guesstimate how many volunteer hours from our committee and all our sponsors [went into the project],” said Pearen. “It’s one of those things you didn’t keep track of because it would scare you.” Juanita Brown joined the Mill committee about 10 years ago when she retired. Her reason for joining was an effort to preserve an old building, which, according to Brown, Saskatchewan, and Yorkton specifically, isn’t great at doing. “So, when you kind of have a passion and want something to be saved, but you’re not always sure in the beginning that you’re going to be successful... you see today and all of it come to fruition, it’s just exciting,” Brown told CTV News. She hopes to be a part of the Mill’s history for years to come, but she is aware of the painful passing of time and the absence of a younger generation to keep the wrecking ball away in the future. “There’s lots of people that even I worked with 10 years ago who are no longer here to see this... So, you kind of think you absorb it and celebrate it on behalf of all of us, not just for those of us who get to share the celebration today.” Anuik says his family remains committed to the preservation of the original mill building and its new addition. “My oldest son, who is here right now, was probably the most excited about this building,” Ernie Anuik shared. In 2026, the Brick Mill has a wide group of supporters in the community and beyond, and so it carries the promise of standing in the heart of Yorkton for a few more centuries. After his speech, Larry Pearen received a long-standing ovation from the audience before he and other stakeholders cut the ribbon. Following the emotional grand opening in the afternoon, the Mill hosted its annual Heritage Dinner, which took place at St. Mary’s Cultural Centre with 43 full tables and all tickets sold. Pearen and the rest of the Brick Mill Heritage Society will soon be ready to jump back into fundraising for the modern displays, decorations, and other cosmetic things they’d like to have. But first, they will rest. “We just take a breath, take a little time after our heritage dinner... it’ll be great,” Pearen said.
