Windmill company happy to find new home in Fairfield

FAIRFIELD — An empty factory building on the north side of Fairfield is getting new life as a windmill service center.

Great Plains Windmill Service of Kinross, in Keokuk County, announced in February that it had purchased the building at 603 N. Eighth St. that was previously home to ALCAST aluminum foundry, and Fairfield Aluminum Casting Company (FALCO) before that. Great Plains Windmill Service plans to relocate its operation from Kinross to the newly acquired building in Fairfield, where it will have much more space to restore, paint and service windmills.

Phil Gehman, the company’s owner, said Tuesday that the building still is being remodeled for its new role as a windmill service center. He said progress is going smoothly, and that an auction was recently held to sell some items left behind by the prior occupant.

In the last few weeks, the company has installed signs on the building advertising Great Plains Windmill’s name and logo. Gehman said the building had been vacant for two years, and during that time it was vandalized.

“Everything was trashed, and there was graffiti sprayed everywhere,” Gehman said. “During the last two months, we’ve been cleaning up what was vandalized, the broken windows, doors and drywall. We’ve hauled 30 tons of junk to the landfill. It was sort of a mess.”

Gehman said Great Plains will spend about $200,000 on renovations, which includes new LED lighting.

“Of the old halogen lights, half of them didn’t work anyway,” he said.

Gehman said his father founded the company in 2007 in the family’s two-car garage. The company has expanded each year, and finally Phil realized the business had outgrown its building in Kinross, and that’s when he began looking to relocate. He and his wife bought a ranch near Selma in Van Buren County. Fairfield intrigued them as a potential location for the business because of its large industrial park.

“We’ve gotten to know several businesses in the area, and they’re all very hospitable,” he said. “We were working with [Fairfield Economic Development Association director] Joshua Laraby, and he was very welcoming, too.”

Gehman looked at a number of buildings in Fairfield and the surrounding area, but they were out of his price range. But when he toured the former ALCAST building, he saw that it would fit his needs perfectly, once it was cleaned up and remodeled.

In fact, the old ALCAST building has more space than the company needs. Gehman estimates the company only needs about a quarter of its 118,000 square feet, and plans to lease space in its warehouse and 25 of its offices.

Great Plains Windmill Service is the largest windmill company in the nation, specializing in installation, servicing, painting, full restorations, and relocating of farm and recreational windmills. Gehman said there’s a large demand for windmills in Iowa, which is the second windiest state in the country behind Texas. Its windmills gather water for operations such as cattle farms, greenhouses and households.

“I’d say well over half are for ornamental use,” Gehman said, “like somebody wanting to restore grandpa’s windmill. We do a lot of new installations for people who want a windmill for nostalgic purposes.”

Gehman said his company’s windmills should not be confused with the wind turbines that generate electricity.

“That’s a separate ball of wax,” he said. “What we do is strictly for water pumping, the original farm windmill.”

Gehman said his company installs and repairs windmills in 10 Midwestern states. It has seven employees and plans to hire even more with this relocation.

“We’re excited for what Fairfield has in store for us,” Gehman said.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com