Brewer plans to offer tours of paper mill

BREWER – Some people think the massive facility left dormant when Eastern Fine Paper Co. closed its doors should be used for an artists’ community.

Others think a combined-use light manufacturing facility is in order.

Still others would like to see the 400,000-square-foot former mill used as a cultural center.

And the list goes on.

Brewer city leaders, under the aegis of the South Brewer Redevelopment LLC, want residents and other interested people to pitch in their two cents on what they would like to see at the 43-acre site, so SBR is offering public tours of the former South Main Street mill at the end of the month.

“We encourage Brewer people and people beyond Brewer to come see for themselves what the 400,000-square-foot facility looks like,” Economic Development Director and SBR Managing Director Drew Sachs said on Monday. “It’s always been a regional aspect and hopefully it will be one again.”

The city took over ownership of the plant as part of the sales agreement of Eastern Fine’s parent company in May and formed SBR to assume the responsibility of owning and redeveloping the site. The mill closed its doors in January.

“It will be open to the public, but people need to call and reserve space on the tours,” Sachs said. “We’ll be taking 15 people in at a time. People who go on the tours will be given hard hats and full safety presentation before tour.”

Participants will be asked to sign a liability waiver before the tour. They should wear comfortable shoes because the tour will involve a lot of walking, including several areas with stairs.

“We’re expecting the tours will take between an hour and an hour and 15 minutes,” Sachs said.

SBR will offer daily morning tours at 7 a.m. and 7:15 a.m. between Oct. 25-29. Mid-day tours are set for Oct. 26 and Oct. 28 at noon and 12:15 p.m. The tours on Oct. 30 are set to begin at 9 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.

“The idea is to get several hundred people through that mill,” Sachs said. “We are convinced that you cannot understand the full potential for this mill until you come and see it.

“It’s hard to understand what it’s like until you walk through it,” he said.

After the tours are complete, suggestions for redeveloping the site can be voiced at several planned public envisioning meetings in November with city officials and potential developers.

The amount of interest in the site is surprisingly more than city officials expected. The envisioning meetings are a chance for potential developers and residents to air their ideas, Sachs said.

“I want to make sure they [developers] have the information from the residents,” he said. “The likelihood is that they wouldn’t do 100 percent of what we want, but they are paying for it.”

Friday is the deadline for potential developers to send letters of interest in developing the site to the city.

Deputy Economic Director D’arcy Main-Boyington and Sachs will host the tours. City officials are planning to have additional staff and possibly City Councilors on hand to assist with the tours and answer questions.

To make a reservation for the tours, call administrative assistant Pat Gero at 989-7500. For more information on the mill itself, call Sachs at 989-7500.