- Details
- Category: Past Issues
A marriage
Cargill Falls Mill
plan to go modern
and honor its past
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- By summer, the town and the owners of an historic mill on Rt. 44 should have a road map in front of them showing them the way to move the seven-building complex into the 21st century while honoring its distinguished architectural history.
Delpha Very, Putnam's economic and community development director, said the Cargill Falls Mill (formerly Hale Manufacturing) will benefit from the multi-pronged effort by Durkee & Brown of Providence. The firm, has extensive experience with historic mills, Very said, and they will pull together architectural wisdom, civil and structural engineers, green energy consulting and landscaping advisers to come up with a plan critical to putting the mill redevelopment on the road.
The development plan, which should be done in six months, would address using the 48,000 square feet spread through seven buildings to its best advantage --- commercial and retail and dining and a hydropower plant and much more, according to Very and one of its owners, Greg Renshaw.
Very said one part of the plan will likely be redirecting traffic to the 200-plus parking spaces behind the complex. The small space nearly across from the intersection of Rt. 44 and Church Street, might work better as a courtyard. The plan may include having traffic redirected further up Rt. 44 and getting to the parking lot behind that way, alleviating congestion.
"Cargill Falls Mill is a centerpiece of Putnam," Very said. She added the complex is very unusual in that it represents mill architecture from the mid-1700s through the Industrial Revolution and into the 1950s. "It also has some of the most breathtaking views," she added.
The development plan is funded with a $40,000 grant from the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, administered through the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. Very said $25,750 comes from the grant and the balance of the funding comes from the complex owner and the town. The town's contribution is most likely to be as in-kind. She said it is a municipally drive grant. The grant would also cover extending the River Heritage Trail from the mill, 3/4 of a mile downstream, near the pedestrian bridge.
She added that the owner is committed to getting the complex on the National Register of Historic Places and is also looking for funding from the town's facade program for windows.