NORWAY – Good things in life quite often don’t happen by chance, Town Manager David Holt said. Sometimes you have to work to make them happen, he said.
On Friday, he and four selectmen met with C.B. Cummings & Sons Co. owners Brad and Steve Cummings to talk about redevelopment of the dowel mill. The mill has been closed for a year, and aggressive efforts to attract buyers have not borne fruit.
The mill is located a stone’s throw from the downtown historic district, across Pennesseewassee Stream, on 4.5 acres of prime commercial land. It has 82,372 square feet of manufacturing space in several buildings, many of which are in good condition.
“I don’t know what to do there, but I know we care about what happens at C.B. Cummings,” Holt said Wednesday. Maybe, by working together, he said, “we could have something good happen.”
Joining the group was Brett Doney, chief executive officer of the Growth Council of Oxford Hills, Marge Medd, president of the Growth Council’s board, Ken Morse, president of Norway Downtown Revitalization, and Celia Dieterich, a member of the YMCA Community Recreation Center Committee.
The group talked about possible uses including “anything you’ve heard rumors about,” said Holt, including “a place for downtown parking, a YMCA, housing, incubator businesses, office space, a cultural arts center and museum, and on and on.”
Selectman George Tibbetts was especially knowledgeable, having worked as head of maintenance at the mill for many years.
When the mill first closed, the Growth Council actively sought buyers, but “we weren’t successful,” Doney said. The Dunham Group of Portland also listed the property but didn’t attract any serious buyers. Doney said that listing has expired.
The Growth Council is applying for a $100,000 Rural Community Development Initiative grant to survey the site and do cost estimates and structural examinations. The study will examine whether a mixed use redevelopment makes sense, and begin to shape a master planning process to envision the best mix of uses that could also benefit the Main Street commercial district.
“We’ve got to do the physical homework that’s needed, and talk to people to see what they want,” Doney said. “Our goal is to see the mill redeveloped so that it is an asset for the downtown.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.