WILTON — Worn and weathered, the former Forster Manufacturing building on Depot Street may come down.

Owner Adam Mack of Portland is considering tearing the building down and wants to present his plan to a joint meeting of the town’s Planning Board and Board of Selectmen at 7 p.m. April 7 at the town office, Town Manager Rhonda Irish told selectmen Tuesday.

Mack seeks to recycle the building materials, Paul Montague, Wilton’s code enforcement officer, said. Working under a new company name, Wilton Recycling LLC, Mack needs to let the Planning Board know about the work being done and the change of use for the site, Montague said.

Selectmen were cautiously optimistic about tearing the building down. The plan could relieve concerns formerly raised about the potential for fire and vandalism in the empty building.

The building has remained empty for several years. Attempts to sell the property listed as 233,337 square feet on 12.2 acres for $215,000 through Fishman Realty Group have not succeeded.

Diamond Brands bought Forster Manufacturing in 1995 and moved some employees to the East Wilton plant and some equipment to the Strong mill, Nancy Morgan, a former safety and human resource manager for Forster, said. Jardens Plastic purchased it from Diamond Brands and took over in early 2003, she said.

At the height of Forster Manufacturing, the company employed more than 200 people at the Depot Street mill, she said.

The plant also sat idle when Forster Manufacturing purchased it in 1960, Ruth Adamo of Wilton said. She wrote “A History of the Town of Wilton,” which was published in the early 1970s.

Originally built by Frank G. and George F. Goodspeed in 1903 and run as the Wilton Woolen Co., it became the largest individually owned mill in New England, she said. They added on to the building in 1909, 1916 and 1928. The Goodspeed brothers followed their father, Flavius, who owned the first complete textile mill in town, she said.

During World War II, cloth for the Army and Navy was manufactured in the building. Up to 10 million yards of cloth were produced for the government, she said.

[email protected]