Welton is a veteran restaurateur in the Dayton area. He opened TW’s restaurant in downtown Miamisburg in 1983, sold it in 1991, and later operated Welton’s restaurant in Kettering for 13 years before it closed in 2006. Welton and his family now own and operate Welton’s Catering in Bellbrook.
The new Peerless Mill will be a fine-dining, family-oriented restaurant, Welton said. “I want to keep some comfort food on the menu alongside upscale dishes,” he said. “I don’t want to neglect the history of the place.”
Welton, who grew up in Miamisburg, said, “I feel like the hometown boy coming back home after 20 years. It’s a great feeling.”
Music said he has restored several buildings in the Springboro area and was approached by a friend to consider buying the Peerless Mill. He toured the building and initially rejected the idea, in part because the building has been vandalized extensively and stripped of copper wiring. But a trip to the historic Golden Lamb restaurant and hotel in Lebanon with his wife led him to conclude the Peerless Mill could be restored to its former glory.
The Peerless Mill began in 1828 as a sawmill on the Miami & Erie Canal and became a restaurant in 1929. In 2008, then-owner Gary Wiegele — battered by increased restaurant competition and the weight of huge loans he had to take out to rebuild after a fire — closed the restaurant shortly after it fell into foreclosure.
Music said there is no solid timetable. “We’re trying to restore heat to the building now, then we’ll start repairing the plumbing,” Music said. “We’ll take it one step at a time.”
About the Author
