LEWISTON — Developer Tom Platz said Thursday that Bates Mill No. 5 is a 30,000-square-foot commitment away from going after financing. Work could start on the building in about a year, if all moves along as he hopes. Signing those next leases and securing funding would be a significant milestone in a yearslong effort to redevelop […]
Bates Mill No. 5
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Mill 5 consultant’s report: Rethink food hub idea for redevelopment
LEWISTON — Farmers want more access to local credit, more places to wash, pack, store and distribute their food, and public policy that requires more local schools to buy from them. At a good price. Restaurant and cafeteria buyers want more lightly processed local farm food (pre-cut chicken, chopped vegetables) and more traditionally off-season produce, […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bates Mill No. 5: a brief timeline
Aug. 16, 1850: Bates Manufacturing is incorporated. Benjamin E. Bates begins operating the Bates Manufacturing Co. 1861 to 1865: Civil War. Predicting a long conflict, Lewiston mills purchase large amounts of cotton at 12 cents per pound. With cotton later scarce, most New England mills are forced to close while the Lewiston mills continue operations. […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Is Mill No. 5 alive?
YMCA announcement boosts optimism for mill’s revitalization LEWISTON — Developer Tom Platz would like firm commitments to fill more than half of Bates Mill No. 5 by this summer in order to move ahead with a $25 million bare-bones renovation that could see life, and thousands of jobs, return to the massive 100-year-old landmark. He’s […]
Posted inSpecials
Double Take: Bates Mill No. 5
Lewiston’s iconic mill, today and 101 years ago A lot has changed in Lewiston and Auburn over the years. Mills have been constructed and destroyed. Buildings have been razed and rebuilt. Looking through the Gridley Barrows Collection on the Lewiston Public Library’s website is like stepping into a time machine. Most of the images were […]
Posted inBusiness, Lewiston-Auburn
Local groups to study Bates Mill No. 5 as possible fitness center
LEWISTON — Central Maine Orthopaedics has developed a concept, in cooperation with Grow L+A and the Fitness and Wellness Professional Services of Princeton, N.J., to establish an integrated fitness and medical service center at Bates Mill No. 5. The Princeton company has opened a number of similar sites in New Jersey, partnering with hospitals in […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Bates Mill No. 5 a draw for Maine architects award ceremony
While tour guide Allan Turgeon talked about the building’s history and members of Grow L+A talked about their plans to bring the building back to life, the architects wandered around in their own reverie, gazing up at concrete columns and looking out sooty windows. The group, members of the Maine chapter of the American Institute […]
Posted inbPlus
Double Take: Bates Mill No. 5
Lewiston’s iconic mill, today and 101 years ago A lot has changed in Lewiston and Auburn over the years. Mills have been constructed and destroyed. Buildings have been razed and rebuilt. Looking through the Gridley Barrows Collection on the Lewiston Public Library’s website is like stepping into a time machine. Most of the images were […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Platz convinces Lewiston council of building’s potential
LEWISTON — Including developer Tom Platz in a plan to save Bates Mill No. 5 convinced city councilors Tuesday night. Councilors voted unanimously to let city staff begin negotiations to give the developer an option on the saw-tooth-roofed building between Main and Lincoln streets. It was a big change for a council that narrowly voted […]
Posted inBusiness, Lewiston-Auburn
Preservation group passes Bates Mill No. 5 plan to developer
LEWISTON — Downtown’s iconic Bates Mill Building No. 5 may have a purpose — and a saviour in developer Tom Platz. Members of Grow L+A, the group hoping to save the building, say they are are ready to pass the work they’ve done along to the Central Maine developer. “We’re going to keep doing what […]