SKOWHEGAN, Maine — A historical piece of Maine's textile manufacturing industry is getting a 15 million dollar facelift. Construction is underway on the former Maine Spinning Company building.
The four-story former mill will soon house a brewery, hotel, and apartments.
The project is expected to add a boost to the region undergoing an economic transformation. Crews are installing a new roof on the four-story historic mill, which has stood in the heart of Skowhegan for close to one hundred years.
"With all the activity happening in Skowhegan, they need more beds downtown for tourists, we hope to fill that void in this incredible industrial space," Dash Davidson, a partner with Bangor-based High Tide Capital, said.
The company has a history of redeveloping historic properties and saw incredible potential in transforming the mill's 80-thousand square feet of raw space into a mixed-use development.
"The ability to live in a building with this much history and frankly this much volume and this much incredible material is very rare," Davidson explained.
Utilizing the four 14-foot ceilings, banks of tall windows, and unique character, the first floor of the development will feature a boutique hotel, Bigelow Brewing Company, and a residential lobby.
The remaining three floors will house 45 apartments, where residents will have access to a deck on the fourth floor, featuring sweeping views of the Kennebec River and downtown Skowhegan.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was the original home of the Maine Spinning Company. In its heydey from the 1940s through the 1970s, the company made nearly two thousand tons of yarn annually, which was sold throughout the country
The property was later operated by Solon Manufacturing, which made wooden, plastic, and metal products until 2005, and has remained mostly empty since then.
"It's hard to have a historic property in your town remain vacant, especially when there is a need," Christine Almand, the Skowhegan town manager, said.
Almand said the property will help meet the demand for housing and will anchor other projects, including a planned river walk and park.
"There is a lot of positive energy and a lot of public and private investment going on," Almand added.
The brewery and hotel are expected to draw more people to the downtown area and have a ripple effect throughout the entire region.