Description
This structure is in horrible disrepair. If the "investors" care at all about the community they should do something to close up the broken windows and clean up the facade of the building. Other buildings in a similar situation have been "beautified" in order to make the community feel more comfortable about it - why not rake up the broken glass and garbage and put a coat of paint on the building to make it look better until you get around to fixing it? Update- the repair/demo of this building just went out to bid - AGAIN? http://www.vernon-ct.gov/pdfs/Contract_937ABC.pdf
23 Comments
Doug Hardy (Registered User)
Hello Katie,
I did a quick archive search and for some reason I can't t find the most recent story on the situation with the mill. The mill has been a topic in the election campaign but I'll go dig in our paper files for the most recent story.
Folks have commented that it's a private project that has sought funding from the state and town, but I believe there was a fire there at some point and beyond that I don't know the status.
Doug Hardy (Registered User)
Bryan Flint Rockville community Alliance (Guest)
Hi Katie and Doug,
This was also reported at the Rockville Community Alliance meeting in August and we were told that the Mayor was aware of the issue and it was not our responsible as a Community group to help clean it up, as volunteers. Many people have complained about this eyesore and once the election is over today, we will once again bring it up to the Administration and continue to make it a priority.
I am so glad that you are using this resource and Doug, thank you for your attention to it through the JI
All concerned citizens are invited to our monthly meetings. The next one is Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 7 PM. It's the 4th Tuesday of the month and go to www.RockvilleCT.com for the location.
If you send your e-mail address and/or tel # to me at Bryan@RockvilleCT.com, you can be added to our mailing list.
Please encourage your neighbors to use this reporting vehicle too! Many voices improve our chances of improving our community.
GO ROCKVILLE!
Katie LaFrance (Registered User)
Maria (Guest)
Katie LaFrance (Registered User)
"Prospective Bidders may bid on one of the three bid forms contained in the Contract Specifications.
#937A –Demolition and Hazardous Material Remediation
#937B – Structural Repairs (concrete & roof)
#937C – Demolition, Hazardous Materials Remediation and Structural Repairs". Doug can correct me but I believe the grant was set aside by Gov Rell in 2007? I spoke to Mayor McCoy face-to-face about this recently and he didn't give me the impression of someone who wanted to take this bull by the horns - which is what it needs. Again, due to this recent RFP from the Town I'm wondering if that "guy from Fairfield county" still owns it? Any chance he quietly turned it back over? Doug?
Doug Hardy (Registered User)
Hi again...
I located the archives and added the stories on the fire in April to the JI's Web site... here's the most recent:
Mill survives latest blaze; Developer undeterred
By Max Bakke
Journal Inquirer
VERNON -- Local and area firefighters quickly extinguished a two-alarm fire at the vacant Roosevelt Mills on East Main Street that officials believe started in a pile of debris on the fourth floor Monday.
Ladder trucks from the Vernon and Tolland fire departments were employed to knock down the fire, along with assistance from Ellington and Manchester's 8th Utilities District fire departments.
The fire was reported just before 10:30 a.m., Vernon Fire Chief William Call said.
With the blaze quickly extinguished, firefighters entered the five-story, 83,000-square-foot cement structure to mop up any smoldering debris leftover, Call said.
*
"There's still a lot of leftover stuff in the building, a lot of combustibles -- some shelving," Call said, adding the second alarm was triggered because the fire happened during the day when volunteers are less available.
Fire officials said no one was present in the building, which has been on the path to revitalization after the town received more than a million dollars in state bonding for clean up of the 100-year-old structure.
The property is targeted for development by Westport developer Joseph V. Vallone, who plans to rehab the once-fledging textile mill into apartments and office space.
Vallone said today that his plans for the mill are undeterred by Monday's fire.
The mill was constructed with reinforced concrete in 1906, and has sustain past fires -- including a blaze in 1998 that took out all of the building's windows leaving it a downtown Rockville eyesore.
"That's the reason why you look for a fire-proof building," Vallone said.
Vallone said he expects the town will go out to bid to clean up the structure and hopes to begin construction on the project as soon as he closes on a $10 million federal loan, which is scheduled to be finalized by the end of the year.
"We have every intention of going forward," he continued. "The money is in place, it's just sitting in a pot We just need to work out some issues with the town and get that money flowing."
At the mill's high point in the mid-1970s, the textile factory employed about 250 workers, but in 1988 the company abruptly closed after workers -- who had been unpaid for three weeks -- walked off the job.
While the cause of Monday's fire is still under investigation, Vallone said he suspects it may have been started by individuals with a blowtorch trying to steal piping and other items from the vacant mill.
Katie LaFrance (Registered User)
Doug Hardy (Registered User)
Katie LaFrance (Registered User)
Carl Slicer (Registered User)
I produced a 30 video minute on both this propertty & the MacDermid prop accross the street. It has run on Channel 5 numerous times. The footage is done from a parody perspective.
I think the MacDermid property is of the bigger concern.
Carl Slicer
Katie LaFrance (Registered User)
John Ward (Guest)
John Ward, Vernon Town Administrator
Joseph V. Vallone, A.I.A. (Guest)
I am the architect for the project known as Loom City Lofts, 215 East Main Street, Rockville, CT. I am also the developer of this project, a project that consists of the substantial rehabilitation and conversion of the Roosevelt Mill, into (68) market rate rental units and 10,000 SF of medical/commercial space on the first floor.
I have been involved with this project since 2003 and I can assure you, we have come a very long way since that time. We took an abandoned, environmentally contaminated mill and worked with the CT Department of Environmental Protection to receive an approval on the design of our clean-up plan for the site. A large part of that clean-up work has already been completed, although it is hard to detect while driving past the site in your car.
Roosevelt Mill (a.k.a. Minterburn Mill) is listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places. Our proposed design solution had to be approved by the CT State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) before it could be sent to the National Park Service in Washington, DC for their approval. This structure, built in 1906, was listed on the register because it was one of the first concrete (fireproof) mills to be constructed in New England. Reinforced concrete technology was a new form of construction at that time. Contrary to the mill's tired and misleading exterior appearance, the structural concrete has been tested and is in fact, quite structurally sound and worthy of restoration.
We are in possession of all the required approvals from federal, state and local government agencies. We have had the support of and worked in harmony with the most recent three, Town of Vernon administrations. The final and most critical piece necessary to assemble this puzzle has been the award of an Urban Action grant from the state to the town. This grant will complete the balance of the environmental clean-up work, demolish two ancillary structures, remove the remaining windows, clean out the non-bearing partitions, the mechanical systems and the debris left from the previous tenants. Public bids for this work were submitted to the town on 9.30.9, a bidder has been awarded a contract and work is about to begin within the next several weeks. The demolition project is expected to be completed by March, 2010. Construction is projected to start in the Summer of 2010 and take approximately 15 months to complete.
I have attached a photograph of the architectural rendering and the model of the new main entrance.
I am quite proud to be part of a team of many individuals who have also spent years working to save this important Rockville historic landmark. As an architect in private practice for almost 25 years, I am extremely proud to design and produce a building that embraces the current philosophies within the movement referred to as New Urbanism. I am thrilled to create a LEED certified building that embraces state of the art green technological innovations such as a geothermal heating & cooling system (for a zero carbon footprint) as well as the use of rooftop photovoltaic cells.
CTNewsJunkie.com (Registered User)
Wow. Thanks, gentlemen for these detailed responses. The image shows a really nice finished product and it appears that a lot of hoops have been jumped through already. So kudos for that.
Obviously, your image is an artist's rendering but I'm wondering about two things that may seem like dumb or at least premature questions ...
1. Has the layout, as pictured, been approved yet? The entrance to the parking lot looks like it'll be subject to some sight-line issues related to the corner of the building. PZC may ask you to have vehicles enter further from the building.
2. How close will moving vehicles be to the first floor windows? Seems really close in the picture. Snow plows could theoretically bury or break the glass. Or worse, a distracted driver could try to fit through one of the windows. Maybe those will be laundry and rec rooms or something like that, rather than living spaces, but my questions are just food for thought.
This will be a pretty remarkable transformation. Best of luck with it.
Kate LaFrance (Guest)
Carl Slicer (Registered User)
90% of the fuel that Nasa puts on its rockets is depleted in the first few minutes to get the massive payload of the ground and moving.
I understand there is a lot of RED-Tape to go through but to not udpate for over 2 years leaves us to wonder if it went astray.
My main concern is the MacDermid property.
MacDermid is a strong, viable, multi-billion company that has walked & has ignored all but the taxes on the property.
Is there progress with MacDermid ?
Mr Vallone. Something as simply as www.WordPress.com is an easy-to-use free blog site that many of us in the Rockville are subscribe to.
Perhaps you can place an update every 6 months if that isnt too much.
Thank you for your hard work.
Carl Slicer, producer, Rockville Ruins.
Katie LaFrance (Registered User)
Closed Katie LaFrance (Registered User)
CTNewsJunkie.com (Registered User)
Reopened CTNewsJunkie.com (Registered User)
CTNewsJunkie.com (Registered User)
sorry about the typos...
I reopened this issue to let folks know - and to have them share with others - that the good news is that the groundbreaking is scheduled for tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Looks like stuff already is in progress there.
Closed Katie LaFrance (Registered User)