ROCKFORD, Mich. — An old building in Rockford is open for business once again and city officials say it’s great news for their growing downtown.
“We made it a success, and it's been a success for over 50 years now,” said Arnie’s President Erik Fahlen Sr.
The Old Mill in Rockford has been a restaurant since the 1970s. For most of that time, it was an Arnie's Bakery & Restaurant.
“It's our first restaurant, special to me. I met my wife here just about 40 years ago. It's a unique place. It's a beautiful place right on the river,” said Fahlen Sr.
In 2020 the restaurant closed temporarily to make some changes, then the pandemic hit, and the owners concentrated on their bakery.
Fahlen Sr. said, “What planned on about a year or two off from this store, and then when we got back into redoing it. With redoing a 150-year-old building, the process took a lot longer, and we had to redo a whole lot more stuff than we planned on.”
“They are kind of synonymous with downtown Rockford. When you think of downtown Rockford, you think of our Arnie’s; you think of The Old Mill,” said Rockford City Manager Thad Beard.
He says it was important for the city to have the iconic building reopen, saying, “We do struggle with issues like every downtown; however, typically, when there is a vacancy, there are people waiting in line to fill that vacancy because they want to be a part of our downtown as well. But there's a lot of history in our downtown, a lot of commitment with people that have been here for a long time.”
Now the historic building is open and is renamed The Old Mill Beer City Bread Company.
Director of Restaurant Operations Stefan Fahlen said, “The remodel is really awesome. It's beautiful. It's bright in here. That's honestly what we were going for. We want to give people in downtown Rockford another really good place to go for dinner.”
The owners say they were never giving up on the mill; it just took a while longer than expected.
“We had a lot of people wanting us to reopen, and then once we saw we were full into the projects, they knew it was just a matter of time. It took a little longer than we planned on. But here we are. We're back, and we're better than ever,” said Fahlen Sr.
The restaurant is open every day except Sunday for lunch and dinner.
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