For many New England mills and the communities around them, the road to closure is a painful one. And it’s become a road all too familiar to residents in the Biddeford-Saco area.
During the region’s 19th century heyday, Biddeford’s Pepperell Manufacturing Company was the heart and soul of the local economy, with the complex occupying over 4 million square feet at its turn-of-the-century peak. But the advent of mass electricity – which meant Southern cotton growers didn’t have to ship their product north to be processed – began to take a steady toll on the mill over the decades. By 2006 all production had stopped, and in 2009 the mill was put up for sale.
For a while it looked as if the 21st century would be the death knell for Pepperell, which seemed doomed to follow the outsourced-driven fate of countless mills before it. Instead, one local entrepreneur also saw it as an opportunity to remake the mill in an equally 21st century light – one that was as green as it was bright and forward-facing.
In 2004, Doug Sanford acquired a significant portion of Pepperell Mill, called the North Dam Mill. His goal:to transform the aging hulk into a sustainable community of businesses and residences that would serve to reinvigorate Biddeford’s downtown.
Now, five short years later, Pepperell is in the midst of a genuine renaissance – one that is as focused on job creation as it is on sustainable commerce and practices. The rejuvenating complex now serves as a home for retail stores, manufacturing companies, non-profit organizations, fitness studios, and 54 residential apartments.
In a way, the aging mill has become its own green stimulus package. Not only is Pepperell Mill Campus providing commercial space to revitalize the mill itself; they’re also patronizing other local businesses – including lumber yards and construction companies – to help give the mill a much-needed makeover.
“We hope one of the byproducts of doing this project will be the creation of more jobs,” says Scott Joslin, Director of Construction and Planning for Pepperell. “We feel we have the potential to create over 700 permanent jobs, and that doesn’t even include the over 400,000 man hours of work associated with construction and development.”
For a former mill town more than a century removed from the apex of manufacturing, these are indeed desperately needed jobs. Like many post-industrial towns throughout the east coast, Biddeford remains in need of more tax revenue, and to that end has found at least a partial savior in the revitalized Pepperell.
Further helping its cause, the campus itself is situated less than ¼ mile from the Amtrak Station, providing efficient commuter and freight services. But perhaps the most impressive feature of the re-born Pepperell Mill Campus is its commitment to sustainability. Indeed, the campus already touts an extensive recycling program throughout, as well as highly efficient hot water boiler systems. What’s more, management is applying this green vision to both its residential as well as its commercial spaces.
Additionally, Pepperell hopes to make good on its promise to incorporate a state-of-the-art combined heat and power (CHP) plant, which would enable the campus to generate its own heat and power on site.
“We’re slowly working our way into a self-sustained comprehensive energy plan,” says Joslin. “One way we could achieve this would be through an independent, biomass-fired boiler plant that produces thermal steam and electricity. Or, we may join with the abutting mill owners to form a cooperative ‘district’ heat and electric-generating system.”
Whichever path they pursue, the principles at Pepperell Mill Campus expect to significantly lower the complex’s carbon footprint. In an effort to help further bolster their growing green initiatives, in December Pepperell joined Green Alliance, a Seacoast New Hampshire-based “green business union” which helps certify and promote sustainability-minded businesses throughout the region.
While by some accounts outside the GA’s Portsmouth direct purview, Joslin sees in the similarly young organization a unique opportunity to promote Pepperell’s transformation to a wider audience.
“I actually had an office in Portsmouth for years, and knew a couple of the Green Alliance Business Partners from a while back,” recalls Joslin. “I always thought that what the GA was doing was really unique and it seemed like a group of people that would appreciate and support what we’re trying to accomplish here.”
But Joslin also understands that, for all Pepperell’s invigorative strides, the work only just begun. Like the brick that makes up the buildings themselves, the culture and outlook of an old New England mill town isn’t something that can be changed overnight.
“We have to keep in mind that this project is bigger than any of us involved, and that’s it’s about revitalizing an entire region,” Joslin exclaims. “People at the state level have really been wowed by how the project is evolving, and watching its progress closely.”