Historic Preservation Board Takes Up the Question of the Old Mill District

The Historic Preservation Board convened a special session last Thursday to consider the future of the Old Mill District, a cluster of late nineteenth-century industrial buildings that has been the subject of competing redevelopment proposals for the better part of four years. The session drew representatives from three development groups, two preservation organizations, and a collection of residents and community advocates whose views on the district's future covered a range that the board chair, in her opening remarks, tactfully described as broad.

The proposals before the board varied significantly in their approach to the existing structures. One called for substantial rehabilitation of all contributing buildings within the district boundary, preserving the structures while adapting their interiors for mixed commercial and residential use. A second proposed demolition of several secondary structures to allow for new construction while preserving the primary mill building as a cultural and event venue. A third, advanced by a coalition of preservation groups, called for public acquisition of the district and its development as a heritage site and public amenity.

Board members asked detailed questions of each group's representatives and heard public testimony that ran for more than two hours. The board took no action at the session and indicated it would seek additional information from each development group before scheduling a follow-up meeting at which a formal recommendation might be considered.