By DAVID OWENS | Courant
Staff Writer
- June 18, 2008
VERNON - — Late last month the town council killed a plan
to use a mix of federal and local dollars to build a transportation center in
downtown Rockville.
Now Mayor Jason L. McCoy and Town Administrator Christopher Clark are working
on plans to use the federal money and about $500,000 in local money to instead
renovate the dilapidated Citizens Block building on Park Place.
Former U.S. Rep. Rob
Simmons obtained an earmark of more than $6 million for the intermodal
center in a pork-laden transportation bill approved by Congress in April 2004.
The town would have to fund 20 percent of the Park Place project.
The original plan was to use the money to build a parking garage near
Rockville General Hospital, but those plans suddenly shifted into an
intermodal transportation center that was dubbed a bus station by critics.
The council voted May 27 not to submit to a town meeting
the third of four allocations of local dollars. Still, about $560,000 has been
set aside. McCoy said Tuesday that he thinks the local money allocated thus
far and the corresponding federal dollars would be enough renovate the
Citizens Block.
"I went back and looked at the law the next day," McCoy said,
referring to the day after the council vote. That's when he determined federal
law would allow the town to renovate Citizens Block.
The federal grant allows the funds to be used on transportation facilities
such as office space for Dial A Ride, McCoy said. That office could be placed
in the Citizens Block building, he said. The money could also be used to make
improvements to nearby sidewalks and Park Place, McCoy said.
Citizens Block has also been eyed as a potential site for a state rock 'n'
roll museum or hall of fame and a local group is pushing Rockville, home of
music great Gene Pitney, as the ideal spot for such a museum.
Town officials have searched for several years for a way to revitalize the
Citizens Block building. It sits next door to the Vernon Senior Center and is
one door away from town hall.
Officials have proposed putting a mix of uses — residential, offices and
retail — in the building.
Contact David Owens at dowens@courant.com.
Approval Is Expected On A $1.2 Million State Grant That Would Cover
Demolition Costs And Cleanup Work
By DAVID OWENS | Courant
Staff Writer
- January 17, 2008
VERNON — - The final piece of the financial puzzle needed
to restore a derelict mill in Rockville appears to be in place.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Wednesday that a $1.2 million grant for work at the
former Roosevelt Mills complex on East Main Street will be on the State Bond
Commission's Jan. 25 agenda. Placement on the agenda typically means approval.
Joseph Vallone, a Westport architect who plans to convert the complex into 68
apartments and 10,000 square feet of commercial space known as Loom City Lofts,
said Wednesday that the state money is crucial and would be used for demolition
work and to clean up hazardous materials.
"This is so important because most lenders will not loan for demolition and
cleanup," Vallone said. "That's what this money is for."
Loom City Lofts took ownership of the mill complex in October and has been
working to obtain government-backed construction loans. Vallone said he hopes
the loans will be in place by May. Work will begin as soon as money is
available, although the work to be financed by the state grant could begin
sooner, he said. The project is estimated to cost $12 million.
State and local officials view the project as a key element in efforts to
revitalize Rockville, which was once a center of textile manufacturing. Sweaters
were produced at Roosevelt Mills until 1988.
Since then, the building has fallen into disrepair. Many windows are gone, and
those that remain are falling out of their frames. Inside the hulking structure,
built of reinforced concrete, evidence remains of decades of work. There are
boxes full of spools of yarn and piles of sweater material. There are hundreds
of thousands of buttons on the floor, along with derelict sewing machines, a rug
loom and dry-cleaning machines that were used to wash the sweaters before they
were packaged for sale.
"This grant will spur the creative redevelopment of a mill that for far too
long has been an eyesore and safety hazard in Rockville," Rell said in a
statement announcing the grant.
"It's pretty exciting," Vernon Mayor Jason L. McCoy said. "This
is the gateway to Vernon when you're coming through Tolland. It's also keeping
in line with the governor's position on the environment and the redevelopment of
a lot of the abandoned mills."
The town began working with Vallone when current Deputy Mayor Diane Wheelock was
mayor in 2003. That effort continued during Mayor Ellen L. Marmer's two terms in
office.
The project "dovetails in with the redevelopment downtown," McCoy
added. "It's very, very good."
Vallone credited state Sen. Tony Guglielmo, R-Stafford, and state Rep. Claire
Janowski, D-Vernon, for their efforts to obtain the money. The General Assembly
placed money for the project in its bond package, but Rell vetoed that bill. The
project, however, made it into a smaller, compromise bond package. McCoy and the
town council also sent letters to the governor urging her to fund the grant.
"They've all been very helpful, very supportive, and I'm grateful,"
Vallone said.
The building was constructed in 1906 and remains structurally sound, although
some stiffening will be required to comply with earthquake standards.
"Other than that, it's a fortress," Vallone said.
The structure is on the National Register of Historic Places because it was one
of the first in the country to be constructed of reinforced concrete when built
by the Minterburn Mill Co.
"By the turn of the century, the Rockville woolen industry had become
nationally and internationally recognized for the production of fine woolens and
worsteds," Vernon town historian Ardis Abbott wrote in a report on
Minterburn for the National Register of Historic Places.
Joseph Carter, who started Manchester Knitting Mills in 1941, moved the business
to Rockville 10 years later. Carter bought the Minterburn plant and started
operations under the name Roosevelt Mills.
The company made sweaters, primarily of acrylic, for J.C. Penney, Sears,
Montgomery Ward, all the big department stores, John Carter, the founder's son,
told The Courant in 1997. It made the "Pat Boone sweater" and the
"Jack Nicklaus golf shirt."
By the early 1980s, foreign competitors offering bottom-of-the-barrel prices
were straining Roosevelt Mills, John Carter said. The Carters sold the business
in 1982, and it closed in 1988 amid a flurry of bounced paychecks and bad
feelings. It was the last textile producer in Rockville to go down.
June 6, 2007
By DAVID OWENS, Courant Staff Writer
VERNON -- The town
council on Tuesday voted to endorse a concept for
redeveloping Rockville's main business district.
The Rockville Downtown Association briefed council members
on its concept for Rockville a month ago. The organization's
concept includes uncovering the Hockanum River and building
nearly 500,000 square feet of retail space.
Deputy Mayor Jason McCoy, a Republican, recommended that the
council endorse the Rockville Downtown Association plan and
direct the town's economic development coordinator to work
with the association and support the concept.
The council also approved a measure allocating $9,000 to
advertise the concept and seek interest from developers.
The area the organization is focused on is bounded by Union
Street to the north, Brooklyn Street to the south, Court
Street to the east and Rockville General Hospital to the
west.
Marina Rodriguez, the town's economic development
coordinator, on Tuesday gave the council a list of steps
that must be completed as the plan evolves. Among them are
cataloging affected properties and identifying the owners;
determining any plans property owners have and determining
whether they can fit into the overall plan; performing
environmental assessments on the property; appraising the
properties; developing a project budget and financing plan;
performing a feasibility study to determine the project's
potential for success; developing a plan that shows project
stages.
McCoy's effort to move the project forward was endorsed by
the council's Republican majority, who said the project is
critically important to Rockville and could add dramatically
to the town's tax base.
Councilman George Apel said the project needs to be a
cooperative effort between the town and the Rockville
Downtown Association.
"If this project is ever done it's going to help the
town," Apel said.
Councilman Dan Champagne said it's important to begin moving
forward as soon as possible.
"It's about time we get going on something ... right
now," Champagne said. "Rockville is falling
apart."
Contact David Owens at dowens@courant.com.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/ec/hc-vercoun0606.artjun06,0,2683717.story