Vacant Mill Economic Revitalization

My new blog today concerns the letter I recently sent to Governor Dannel P. Malloy concerning a proposal and idea to revitalize our local vacant mills.

Dear Governor Malloy:

I am writing you today to discuss my concern and possible solution to the large amount of distressed mills in our state. Throughout New England, there are more than 400 small villages and towns whose evolution and development have been tied to the presence of a mill (1 ) The state’s current economic development initiatives have been geared toward retaining and attracting companies to the state including the “Bioscience Connecticut" initiative and the "First Five" initiative. I am writing to you to request that a portion of economic development funding be geared toward re-use and revitalization in our distressed mills in the state.

For number of years, towns and cities in Connecticut have been dealing with distressed mills. Our Town of Stonington CT. includes several of these type of mills. Recently, through our “Distressed Buildings Ordinance” I developed, we have made a focus to work with developers to re-use and revitalize these parcels. The largest deterrent to this success is financing. Other states including Massachusetts have worked hard to revitalize these locations. “Travelers making the same journey today would still see much evidence of decline, neglect, and abandonment; but they would also see evidence of rebirth. Many of these mills have been revitalized and now house the high-technology and light manufacturing companies that are the backbone of the Massachusetts economy today”(2 ) These parcels are concerning as they are not only vacant but have become safety and fire hazards. This is evidenced recently by the fire at the vacant former Nova Dye and Print factory in Waterbury. A number of mills have fall victim to dangerous fire and vandalism over the years.

To prevent this, I feel it would be valuable to provide grant monies to mill owners or developers who would like to renovate and adaptively re-use these mills. It would be beneficial to revitalize current parcels and retaining historic features than possibly adding sprawl to our towns with new development.

Thank you very much for your consideration in to this proposal. I feel this initiative would provide an economic transformation to many towns throughout the state and add to potential development of closed mills.

Sincerely

Edward Haberek Jr. ; First Selectman

cc. Commisioner Catherine Smith; DECD

State Senator Andrew Maynard

State Rep. Diana Urban

seCTer Board of Directors

1. Kotval , Zenia and Mullin, John,” The Revitalization of New England’s Small Town Mills:Breathing New Life into Old Places (2009) http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1069&context=john_mullin
2. Mullin, John; Armstrong, Jeanne; and Kavanagh, Jean, "From Mill Town to Mill Town: The Transition of a New England Town from a Textile to a High-Technology Economy" (1986). Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Faculty Publication Series. Paper 8. http://scholarworks.umass.edu/larp_faculty_pubs/8