Mill no longer part of city development plans

STARTING ANEW: A new mixed-used building would replace the 19th-century  Elizabeth Mill, in Warwick, a building originally tabbed for rehabilitation. / COURTESY CITY OF WARWICK/MICHAEL INTEGLIA & CO.
STARTING ANEW: A new mixed-used building would replace the 19th-century Elizabeth Mill, in Warwick, a building originally tabbed for rehabilitation. / COURTESY CITY OF WARWICK/MICHAEL INTEGLIA & CO.

Warwick’s Elizabeth Mill, a 19th-century structure that a development company had initially said could be transformed into apartments, retail and office space instead will be torn down and replaced with a modern building. City officials hope the new mixed-use building will spur other development around T.F. Green Airport.
The announcement last week disappointed advocates of historic preservation, who said the massive brick mill, like others in Rhode Island, could have become a signature element in a new development era for Warwick.
But for Mayor Scott Avedisian, who announced the plan to redevelop the mill site into a 300,000-square-foot building, the planned structure is a step forward. The mill has been unoccupied for nearly 20 years, Avedisian said in a phone interview. Its location, across from the Interlink train station and connection to the airport, makes it a focal point.
The city is marketing a 95-acre area near the airport as City Centre Warwick, hoping to create a dense mixture of retail stores, restaurants, office and living spaces.
“It’s incredibly important to have something going over there because it’s across from the train station,” Avedisian said, regard the mill site. “We’re looking for this to be the catalyst.”
Michael Integlia & Co., a builder and developer of office, commercial and industrial structures, purchased the site in October 2013, one of three parcels in the Leviton complex. A month later, Integlia and Avedisian said the landmark mill building would be preserved, and likely made into a mix of office space, apartments, stores and hotel rooms.
According to Avedisian, Integlia marketed the property but found the mill structure presented obstacles to redevelopment, including the height of its ceilings.
Under the new plan, historical elements will be salvaged from the mill, including its cast-iron stairs and doors, and incorporated into the new structure. The new building would be four levels, with the ground floor dedicated to retail, the mayor said. The second and third levels are intended for office space, while the top floor would be rental apartments. A spokeswoman for the city said the interior demolition, including removal of asbestos, has already begun. External demolition is expected to begin within weeks. A timeline for construction of the new building has not been established.
The city is not responsible for any of the demolition or construction costs. Avedisian said the developer has also committed to the construction of the new building.
“We wouldn’t have issued the demolition permit without that commitment,” he said.
Integlia could not be immediately reached for comment on the plans.
The new structure, if it attracts the mix of tenants as envisioned, would create 400 permanent jobs, Avedisian said, along with 350 temporary construction jobs.
The loss of the mill is disappointing, but the developer will incorporate aspects of the building into the new structure, he said.
“We would have loved to be able to keep the mill,” he said. “But we understand some buildings aren’t suitable for adaptive reuse.”
News of the planned demolition came as a disappointment but not a surprise to Camille Villa-Wilkinson, the Warwick city councilwoman who represents the area. She created a Facebook community page, Save Elizabeth Mill, when she said she learned Integlia had applied in May 2014 for a demolition permit.
Initially, she said she understood the new building would be primarily office space, and so was relieved to learn last week that mixed-use commercial and residential is now planned. But the razing of the mill is a loss, she said, in a phone interview.
The market for office space is weak, she noted. “I do not think there’s more demand for office parks. We’ve got quite a number of them in Warwick and they’re not at capacity.” The area near the mill includes several good examples of preservation, she said, including a former iron-works factory redeveloped into a site featuring a restaurant, the Iron Works Tavern.
She’s disappointed the same future isn’t planned for Elizabeth Mill.
“It’s a part of the historical fabric of the city of Warwick and the state,” she said. “You can’t re-create it. This isn’t Disneyland. You had the real deal. There’s a value in seeing the real history.”
Elizabeth Mill, which produced electrical switches before it closed, is not on the National Register of Historic Places, according to a state listing. The structure, at 745 Jefferson Blvd., dates to 1875.
It was built as a steam-powered textile mill by Thomas J. Hill, who named it for his wife, Elizabeth. In the late 1800s, it employed 265 machine operators and produced fine thread, according to the Warwick Digital History Project website.
The mill has been on preservationists’ radar for several years, because of the effort to redevelop the area, according to Valerie Talmage, executive director of the nonprofit Preserve Rhode Island.
Unfortunately, she said, the state program that provides a tax credit for renovation of historic structures has not had sufficient funding for several years, removing a potential incentive for developers. It isn’t clear if the Elizabeth Mill would have qualified under the state’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit program, or if the developer sought it out.
Mill buildings, in particular, can be problematic for rehabilitation, Talmage said, because they’re large and often have industrial wastes that require removal. “They are complicated developments,” she said.
Of their demolition, Talmage said: “It’s been a not-infrequent response to mills that are vacant and deteriorating.” •

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