WILTON — A year from now, the former Forster Manufacturing mill on Depot Street will be gone and the property ready for development, owner Adam Mack told selectmen and planners Thursday night.

Mack and Josh Anderson representing Downeast Construction explained plans to demolish and reclaim materials from the buildings on the more than 12 acres. Mack said he envisions perhaps some housing or a restaurant with a deck over the stream where the building extends over it now. 

“We’re not 100 percent sure what it will be,” Mack said. He’s also not sure he will develop it or sell it to someone else to develop.

All buildings and structures will be taken down and the basement filled in. Retaining walls, the pavement and a bridge on the edge of the property will stay.

Parking areas and other parts of the property may be sold depending on the development plan.

The site has passed a Department of Environmental Protection Phase I evaluation for hazardous material. The only asbestos found was in the glue used on tiles on the third floor. It has a clean bill of health, Anderson said.

The vacant building, three stories and a basement, has created concern for potential fire and has been broken into several times, Code Enforcement Officer Paul Montague explained.

Downeast Construction intends to erect a fence around the property for security during the work, Anderson said.

The company expects to hire up to 40 local people to help demolish and salvage materials. Some people have already picked up applications at the town office, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said earlier in the day.

Plans include recycling metal pieces, reclaiming beams for houses and wood for flooring. A company in Portland will take the wooden window frames even though most of the glass is broken, he said.

“We plan to reuse as much as we can,” he added.

Some wooden material will be processed by local biomass mills. Paper and cardboard was removed and recycled and even most of the brick and concrete will be used for other things, he said.

Fire Chief Sonny Dunham toured the building this week. It has been cleaned up a lot, but if there were an emergency, firefighters won’t be able to go into the building because parts of the floor have been taken up. Part of the structure has already started to collapse, he said.

Asked about assurance that the project will be completed, Mack said part of the contract between Ryan Blyther of Downeast Construction and himself includes an escrow account that will be returned to the construction company when the work is completed.

Built in 1903, the mill was two stories until the 1960s. Mack is willing to work with the town’s historical society to retain some memories of the mill through a donation of wooden pieces.

“We’re all seeing this as something positive and constructive,” Mike Sherrod, Planning Board chairman, said.

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