The Mill 5 Task Force met with Former Bates Head Engineer Bud Lewis on Jan 31st. The Sun-Journal reported on that meeting and on the work of the Task Force. Click on the article title to read entire article and comments.
Former Bates engineer urges razing Mill No. 5
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Monday, February 4, 2008 LEWISTON - Emotion will play as big a role in the future of the Bates Mill No. 5 as common sense, according to a former building engineer.
"It's a money decision, but that's not what it's going to come down to," said William B. Lewis, former chief engineer at Bates Manufacturing. "Some people are practical and others tend to be sentimental. How people are, that's what's going to decide this."
Without a doubt, Lewis said he's on the practical, common-sense side. He's advocating for tearing the building down. It's an idea he offered in a letter to the editor last month and one he discussed with the Bates Mill No. 5 task force Thursday.
According to Lewis, the circa 1912 building was never built to last, and years of vibration from looms have caused stress and other deterioration. Years of neglect will make it expensive to fix.
But he admits its size will make it expensive to tear down... Finish Article
Mike Carey
Lewiston
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Below are comments from the Sun-Journal Article.
Mike Carey
Lewiston
Comments
Posted By:Itchy Beaver at February 4, 2008 6:21 AM (Suggest Removal)
The Lewiston City Council would be well advised to listen to the words of Mr. Lewis. Mill No. 5 was called a "weave shed" by the people who built it. It is now sucking up $400,000 of the taxpayers hard-earned money per year (for the last 15 years and into the foreseeable future). It's great that Mayor Moonbeam and Lewiston's massive population of liberals have "feelings" for Weave Shed, but it's falling in on itself and needs to be torn down. Celebrate and document the history of the building, demolish it, and sell the land to help offset the cost of demolition and get modern buildings on the land that pay property taxes to pay for our feel good social experiments around here.
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Posted By:ray at February 4, 2008 7:16 AM (Suggest Removal)
Name calling (Mayor Moonbeam ) will accomplish nothing. Bashing people of differring philosophies (liberals) will not accomplish much either. Cetainly Morris Albert is not a conservative by example of his rhetoric. For all that has been said of Bates Mill's restoration, Lewiston has a very nice building with a solid business core. Many thanks should go to Mr. Platz who had the foresight to create this improvement to downtown and Lewiston's economic base.
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Posted By:Itchy Beaver at February 4, 2008 7:41 AM (Suggest Removal)
ray...There are certain buildings in the Bates Mill Complex that are definitely worth saving: (1,2,6,7). The taxpayers of the City of Lewiston have invested millions of their hard-earned dollars to do just that. The Weave Shed is not one of them. Mayor Gilbert can show real leadership and call for the demolition of the Weave Shed. So far, we haven't seen too much from the guy other than tagging mitigation that failed miserably. But we'll give him that one for trying. The real leadership on the Bates came from the Citizens for Local Jobs and Opportunities way back in the roaring '90's, by the way. Platz implemented the plans that they fought so hard for.
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Posted By:TAXPAYER at February 4, 2008 7:44 AM (Suggest Removal)
Name calling has no place here! All things of this nature do is distract from the real question,to save or to tear down! I for one think its time to come down! And by the way Mr Platz did a wonderful job,I only wish people would be making a living wage at all those jobs! Yes we do have NEW jobs in town but are they of the good paying type ????Not everyone can live on 7.50 per hour !!!
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Posted By:Lincoln at February 4, 2008 8:42 AM (Suggest Removal)
Mayor Moonbeam will first need to check with Rep Craven & Makas for permission to give his opinion, and only then will he publicly state what "he" thinks. Course all those pics with Collins and using Mendros (R) for his campaign are going to cost him big time in the democratic party.
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Posted By:Michael Dumas at February 4, 2008 8:47 AM (Suggest Removal)
Tear it down, but perhaps somewhere within the complex (I'm talking about the Bates Mill complex as a whole) someone can create a Bates Mill Museum that documents and preserves the history of the entire site, without sacrificing hundreds of thousands of dollars in "heating costs" at the expense of the taxpayers.
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Posted By:Michael Dumas at February 4, 2008 9:28 AM (Suggest Removal)
My bad, Yukelele, I didn't realize a museum outlining and displaying the history of the Bates Mill had been created at the LPL. Shows how long it has been since I've been in there!
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Posted By:Jeff at February 4, 2008 9:51 AM (Suggest Removal)
I often think of the "Southern Gateway" area on Lisbon St and what that was like 10-20 years ago...very depressed. Whenever I come acroos the Longley Bridge in Lewiston I think..what a Beatutiful gateway to the city we could have if that area was somehow redeloped with a mix use of things....People said southern gateway area could never be what it is today, but look at it now a nice entrance into downtown. COMMON SENSE must prevail and lets not let Bates Mill #5 sink the entire ship..
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Posted By:Lincoln at February 4, 2008 9:59 AM (Suggest Removal)
This subject is sure to bring out all the fanatics as it gets closer to resolution.
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Posted By:Michael Dumas at February 4, 2008 10:03 AM (Suggest Removal)
Historic pres will surely be very vocal. But seriously, given how many support beams are in there, you can't do very much besides use it as storage or manufacturing.
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Posted By:Lincoln at February 4, 2008 11:55 AM (Suggest Removal)
And we all know how manuafacturing is flocking to Maine given the anti business climate in Augusta!
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Posted By:blackhawkdown at February 4, 2008 12:43 PM (Suggest Removal)
tear the whole place down and build new but something that would benfifit the locals of lewiston like a shopping center where you dont need a cab to get there and make plenty of employment opertunities for local people in the coommunity but no knowing our goverment they will tear it down and put in another hotel and wont be any good for the locals a nice indoor playground ask jokers to relocate and keep them tax exempt for ten years at least the children will have a safe place to go being its winter not here for the kids and during the summer the city doesnt have a decent playground for children ...........
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Posted By:Chad at February 4, 2008 12:44 PM (Suggest Removal)
LMAO Ray. Tom Platz is a very smart business man who took the city for a financial ride. Buying property for a fraction of worth, forcing the City into nearly $30 Million in future committments and you want to thank the guy? Look, if someone wants to use their own private capital to save the building, then fine. If no one, after a decade, wants to step forward to finance reconstruction, then it's time to move on and tear it down. Sell the bricks and anything that can be salvaged. If anyone thought a convention center could function in Lewiston at that site, the property would have been bought and converted years ago.
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Posted By:Michael Dumas at February 4, 2008 3:21 PM (Suggest Removal)
Yuk- Platz already has designs for something like that, which includes cutting away a large portion of the 2nd floor to create a mezzanine with break-away rooms and conference areas....so I've heard. I'm not endorsing the idea or anything, I just wanted to let you know that was out there.
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Posted By:Chad at February 4, 2008 4:23 PM (Suggest Removal)
Cool, who are Tom's private investors? The taxpayers? I have some friends who are going to make an offer on the CCCC and offer to fund the reconstruction/expansion. These guys would not touch the Bates Mill ever.
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Posted By:Michael Dumas at February 4, 2008 5:12 PM (Suggest Removal)
I think the Platz proposal would take about $30M in bonds, and that is only to develop HALF of the site.
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Posted By:Chad at February 4, 2008 5:38 PM (Suggest Removal)
cool...he can sell his own bonds and raise the funds himself...right?
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Posted By:Michael Dumas at February 4, 2008 5:42 PM (Suggest Removal)
Hahahahahaha. This facility would almost assuredly operate in the red. No self-respecting business person would finance this 100% with their own money. This would almost have to be, at the very least, a public-private partnership, but with the most likely scenario being for it to be funded with public bonds entirely. The value of it would have to be measured in ancillary business (which, let's face it, a stand-alone convention center in L/A isn't going to do what some in this community would try to have us think) created. Try convincing tax-payers of that considering A) the Colisee, and B) the Charter specifically states that before any public money can be used to create a convention center, the proposal must be approved by voter referendum......which we know would never happen.
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Posted By:Chad at February 4, 2008 6:02 PM (Suggest Removal)
what's our current debt rating on like $160 Million owed?
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Posted By:dr. dosh at February 4, 2008 7:18 PM (Suggest Removal)
.i a m not an engineer but i did go to Bates college..go with the flow..it's much easier to tear it down then rebuild or retro fit something - maybe a new lockup or something. i concur with his considered opinion. Please remember..it is the simplest solution &..as we all know ..any third rate engineer can make something more complicated..it take a first rate engineer, like this gentleman, to make ..it uh ..s i m p l e again • alo'ha Steve '78 Ω
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