Jacksonville City Council votes to demolish historic Old Profile Cotton Mill
The has been a in Jacksonville for over a century, but soon it's coming down to make way for new development.
Tuesday night, the unanimously voted to authorize the demolition, despite a resident speaking against the matter.
"I'm here to ask you guys to not to demo the building quite yet," Jacksonville resident Gail Da Parma said. "As I understand it there is no legal contract with the city, maybe I heard wrong, but what I'm proposing is that you establish a defined search team, much like if you were looking for an employee or something like that where it's a group of people with different skills and ability."
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De Parma also highlighted the mill's place on the saying, "It's also the center of the Mill Village, it's the anchor for that."
City spokesperson Benjamin Nunnally said in the past, other residents have expressed concerns and the city has delayed demolition to find a buyer for the property, but it hasn't happened.
"We've delayed, at the request of residents, several times, the decision to have it pulled down because we wanted to give every opportunity we could for it," Nunnally said.
Nunnally said the city understands the historical significance, but that something needs to happen with the property.
According to the , the mill was built in 1905 by Henry P. Ide. Since then, the mill has changed owners and names throughout its history, but has remained a landmark for the residents in Calhoun County.
"To this day we still have a neighborhood called the Mill Village," Nunnally said. "It is made up of several people who are actually descendants of the mill workers there. So, a great many people in the city, that was where they worked, that was how they got their paychecks, that was how they put food on the table. So, it's been an important part of Jacksonville life for a long time."
At the turn of the century, the mill closed its doors. In 2003, the City of Jacksonville bought the property in hopes of giving it a new life.
"We've been really trying to get any kind of positive result out of this property," Nunnally said. "Initially, it was does anyone want to use this building for its intended purpose? Does anybody want to use this as factory space, for textiles? That didn't come together."
Over the years, some have suggested turning the land into apartment buildings, city offices and other developments, but that never happened. Nunnally said as time has passed, the cost of demolishing the building has only gone up, preventing that from happening.
"We just had a lot of talk about how nice it would be if it could be turned into something like a $35 million facility that has all these wonderful and amazing things, and we're like, yeah, but Jacksonville's annual budget's $40 million. We are not in a position where we can directly make that happen," he said. "The job has gotten bigger over the years as the building's deteriorated. Within the last five years or so, somebody went in and stole all the copper from the building. The cost of turning it into something has kind of been growing."
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Despite that, De Parma believes a buyer for the entire property, including the mill, can still be found.
"Give us a year to work on finding a buyer.," she said. "I understand that the mill was purchased by the city about 20 years ago for $300,000. The city has not really kept the building up so it's declined in value."
Despite De Parma's opposition, the city is turning to K&D Adventures, LLC. and Kevin Steward to tear the building down and save what they can.
"The basic idea is that he's going to come and pull down the building and salvage material," Nunnally said. "The wood in there is still good, you can still reuse that for something, so his plan is to resell the parts of it that are still good."
After demolition is complete, the city hopes to find someone to develop on the property without having to pay the cost of tearing the mill down, but there's no word yet on what that development might be.
"Best case scenario, we find some way to continue to grow while still appreciating the past that was there," Nunnally said. "Even if we can't keep the building, that won't change the fact that that was the center of the Mill Village for a long time."
There is no word yet on when demolition is set to begin.