Vernon Connecticut Roosevelt Mills Groundbreaking Slated For March 30 - Courant.com

Roosevelt Mills Groundbreaking Slated For March 30 - Courant.com: "Roosevelt Mills Groundbreaking Slated For March 30"

The long awaited groundbreaking for the anticipated transformation of the former Roosevelt Mills into an apartment and commercial center will take place March 30.

Mayor Jason McCoy and Joan McDonald, commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, will be on hand for the 1 p.m. ceremony.

The Roosevelt Mills, where textiles were once manufactured, has been vacant since 1998 when it was designated a Brownfield site by the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency. Before anything could be done with the 5.9-acre site at 215 East Main St. , which was contaminated with chlorinated solvents including tetrachloroethene, a cancer-causing chemical that was used to dry-clean sweaters.

The mill was built in 1906 and was one of the first reinforced concrete buildings in the country. It was the last of the 14 textile factories in Rockville, once known as the Loom City, to go out of business.

Joseph Vallone, a Westport architect and principal of Loom City Lofts LLC, plans to convert the complex into 68 apartments and 10,000 square feet of commercial space that will be known as the Loom City Lofts.

Loom City Lofts took ownership of the mill complex in October 2007.

Vallone has estimated the project's cost to be in the neighborhood of $12 million.

— Joseph A. O'Brien Jr.