BANGOR (AP) – The shuttered Lincoln Pulp & Paper mill could reopen early next week, but there are no plans to reopen the Brewer mill, the Connecticut firm buying the mill said.

“I think we’ll be running by Tuesday” in Lincoln, said John Wissmann, a partner in First Paper Holding LLC.

Attorneys are scheduled to sign documents next Tuesday that would allow lenders to release several million dollars to pay the creditors of bankrupt Eastern Pulp and Paper Corp.

Those payments were part of First Paper’s $23.7 million agreement to buy Eastern Pulp.

First Paper plans to employ 360 people at the Lincoln mill, which will be renamed the Lincoln Paper and Tissue Co.

A skeleton crew has been working at the mill for the last few weeks and more workers are expected to arrive on Thursday or Friday to complete maintenance work and restart production, Wissman said.

As for the Brewer mill, First Paper said it has no plans to reopen the facility. Instead, it will transfer ownership of the property to the city of Brewer, officials said.

Drew Sachs, Brewer’s director of economic development, said the city could take ownership as early as Tuesday.

The city decided to redevelop the 41-acre property because of concerns that the mill would either be left abandoned or taken over by an undesirable tenant. The city envisions a mixed use for the facility with light industry, retail space and possibly even a residential component.

“It’s going to be a long-term project. It’s not going to be a one- to two-year project,” Sachs said.

Eastern Pulp filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2000. In February its status was changed to Chapter 7 liquidation. After ordering the mills abandoned, a bankruptcy judge took back the case and shepherded the various parties toward a deal for the sale of the company.

AP-ES-05-25-04 1652EDT