AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, July 17 (UPI) -- The Netherlands is trying to preserve its old windmills, the squat towers with their huge sails that dominated the flat Dutch countryside for centuries.

The interest in windmill restoration has several sources, The New York Times (NYSE:NYT) reports. As the country becomes increasingly diverse, many Dutch residents want to preserve their national symbols, while there is also new interest in traditional food featuring stone-ground grains.

More than 1,000 old mills still dot the Netherlands. The government has allocated $80 million for rebuilding and restoration at 140 of them.

Leo Endedijk, director of The Dutch Mill, a preservation group, said that the project will take some time because of the few companies capable of handling the work.

"We have special companies, very specialized mill makers and restorers," Endedijk said. "They would not have the capacity to restore 120 mills."

Karel Streumer produces stone-ground grains at De Distilleerketel, or distillery pot, a mill near Rotterdam that dates from 1727. He said that 80 percent of his customers are immigrants like Samson Tesfai, owner of Taste of Africa, an Eritrean restaurant. Tesfail buys wheat flour and more exotic grains like mashela from Streumer.