RUMFORD – The River Valley Growth Council expects to take official ownership of the former J.A. Thurston mill on Route 2 on Dec. 20, setting the stage for a new kind of development in the area.

In the meantime, the growth council Property Management Committee plans a Dec. 9 meeting to discuss alternative uses for the building complex and property.

Tops on the probability list is the establishment of some form of biomass/biorefinery project.

“There are four alternatives,” said council member Dick Lovejoy. “We must turn the building around by the end of January.”

The former wood products mill was bought at auction by a group of Auburn investors last year for $115,000. The building complex and land was offered to the growth council at no cost just a few months ago.

Scott Christiansen, the council’s economic developer who has been working to bring biomass projects to the area, said at least two are seriously interested in using the building complex.

A biomass or a biorefinery industry is part of a growth council and River Valley Technology Center long-term plan for a fractionation development center in the area. Fractionation breaks down the chemicals and other components of wood into a variety of oils and other products.

Board member Greg Buccina questioned whether a biomass complex would be the best use for the former Thurston property.

“My research shows that biorefineries smell. I’m not sure we want that,” he said.

He was also concerned that the town of Rumford be involved in whatever development takes place at the site.

“If there are four opportunities to fill that building, will the selectmen and taxpayers have a voice in what goes on there?” he asked.

Christiansen said there are many ways for some form of fractionation to work, adding that if a form of fractionation is established in the River Valley, it would be the first in the world.

He said, too, that Rumford selectmen will have input into what happens at the plant, as well as residents.

“We want to accommodate everyone,” he said.

With the impending turnover of the former wood products mill to the growth council, two large building complexes in Rumford will have changed hands within a month or so, with the possibility of some kind of development.

Last month, the town of Rumford took over official ownership of Abbott Farm Plaza, a former shopping center also on Route 2. A Massachusetts businessman agreed to purchase the complex provided he can secure two anchor businesses for the site.