05/08/2026
Surprising Angels-of-the-Mill have appeared since 1998 & my earliest days with this old mill. And it continues. In November, 2025 I got a call from Nancy Mammel, asking if I was interested in having OJ’s for a parking lot! Sometimes old dreams come true when least expected.
28 years ago, when first peeking out upper windows of the filthy, dilapidated, leaning pink mill in 1998 & seeing the open, green space from 30th to the Missouri River, I was struck with the potential of this significant entrance from I-680 into Omaha & Nebraska. It could be a Park.
Fast-forward to 2008, & publication of Florence Futures’s vision of Florence’s potential. It included a history park. The feasibility study created by Olsson & Associates was adopted by the City Council in 2009. The booklet contained several illustrated versions of a potential Historic Park, & significantly, one plan showed OJ’s as gone.
Nancy generously donated the OJ’s property to the Mill’s nonprofit: Winter Quarters/Florence Mill inc. Closing was in early January 2026. Expanded parking is hoped to be completed by this June.
Yesterday, May 7, 2026 After months of preparatory work, OJ’s was demolished by Andersen Excavation. Preparations & bids took a while. Utilities needed to be removed. Water was moved & winterized within the north field for easier watering of the “1846 History Garden & Arboretum” which has been in process for the last 5 years on both the mill’s footprint & the state’s surrounding field (with permission from Nebraska Department of Roads, since the Mill has paid to mow this field since 1998.)
This historic area is now Open Space for possibilities. I hope to live to see a bigger vision unfold. I am 76 years young, though life is unpredictable. As was this gift!
Thank you Angels-of-the-Mill, Nancy Mammel for making this happen & thank you John Heine for donating your realtor’s fee.
