Final Report

Attached is the final report for the Bates Mill # 5 Task Force.

Mike Carey
Lewiston

Appendices

Below are the combined links to appendices for the Bates Mill #5 Task Force Report. A few files have not yet been uploaded. Please email batesmill5@gmail.com if you are looking for those particular files.

Mike Carey
Lewiston

I. TASK FORCE

1. CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION
2. COMMITTEE ROSTER
3. PUBLIC MEETINGS: Jan 5th Minutes, Feb 26th Minutes
4. PUBLIC MEETING FACT SHEET
5. FEEDBACK FROM PUBLIC
6. PUBLIC EMAILS AND LETTERS

II. STRUCTURAL INFORMATION

1. BATES MILL #5 HISTORIC CAPITAL EXPENDITURES MEMO
2. BATES MILL #5 OPERATING COST MEMO
3. SHELLEY ROOF STRUCTURAL INSPECTION REPORT
4. PROTZ CONCRETE STUDY
5. FORMER BATES CHIEF ENGINEER LETTER TO EDITOR

III. PLANNING

1. LETTER TO COUNCILS FOR JOINT DOWNTOWN PLANNING
2. WESTERN GATEWAY REDEVELOPMENT PLAN and MAP
3. BATES MILL MASTER PLAN

IV. DEMOLITION

1. BEAUPARLANT MEMO/ESTIMATE
2. COSTELLO ESTIMATE
3. END WALL CONSTRUCTION ESTIMATE
4. SPREADSHEET FOR DEMOLITION 20 YEAR COSTS
   

VI. CONVENTION CENTER

1. COOPER & LYBRAND STUDY
2. ME CONVENTION CENTER STUDY
3. ECONOMIC RESEARCH ASSOCIATES 2001
4. ECONOMIC RESEARCH ASSOCIATES 2003
5. ECONOMIC RESEARCH ASSOCIATES 2008
6. CITY REFERENDUM RESULTS
7. PLATZ ASSOCIATES OVERVIEW
8. PLATZ ASSOCIATES – SPACE ALLOCATION
9. CONVENTION CENTER CONSTRUCTION ESTIMATE

VII. OTHER USES

1. RKG ASSOCIATES HIGHEST AND BEST USE LETTER
2. PARKING GARAGE AS REUSE MEMO (PLATZ)
3. CULTURAL/ACADEMIC SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT
4. RETAIL SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT
5. CONVENTION CENTER SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT
6. LA MUSEUM ECONOMIC IMPACT REPORT
7. RFP POINT SYSTEM IDEA
8. BATES MILL PARKING AGREEMENT SCHEMATIC

Bud Lewis: Demolish Mill No. 5

Demolish Mill No. 5

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Lewiston is currently considering the future of Bates Mill No.5. I must express my assessment of this building.

I am a registered professional engineer, and was chief engineer for Bates from 1954 to 1985, and an engineering consultant to Bates until 2000. This structure, erected in 1912, was an early example of reinforced concrete sawtooth roof construction, designed and built to then current standards and methods, which today are woefully inadequate.

Too many years of exposure to high humidity required for weaving, severe vibration from looms, and extreme temperature differentials, indoors to outdoors, have resulted in widespread cracks in the concrete roof, leakage, and subsequent reinforcing bar corrosion. Concrete from the roof has fallen on the weave room floor. Rusted reinforcing bars are visable throughout the area. Snow load capacity is now less than designed, which is less than today's building code requirements.

The building was erected on filled land next to the canal system, and suffers from settling foundations. This has resulted in the severe cracking of concrete at floor beam to column joints in one area. Extensive floor settlement has occurred in several areas.

An old Lewiston main sewer, bypassed in the 1970s, runs underneath the main canal and the middle of No. 5 Mill. Serious cave-ins have occurred in like environments at Bates Manufacturing's former Androscoggin, Bates, Hill and Edwards mills.

In my opinion, despite understandable sentimental feelings, this building should be demolished to make way for new construction meeting today's building codes and tomorrow's needs.

William B. Lewis, Auburn

Peter Steele: How to Attract Private Investment?

Peter Steele opined in the Jan 24th edition of the Twin City Times. Click on the image to link to the article.
Mike Carey
Lewiston

TCT Covers Jan 5th Public Meeting

Click on the image for the link to the entire article.

Mike Carey
Lewiston

Sun-Journal Article about Public Meeting

The Sun-Journal covered the public meeting. Click on the picture or title to read the full article and the comments.

Mulling over future of mill No. 5 Scores take up the challenge to create a new life for city's slumbering giant

By Carol Coultas , Staff Writer
Sunday, January 6, 2008

LEWISTON - More than 100 people bobbed their heads in unison on a tour of Bates Mill No. 5 Saturday, the warm-up to a brain-storming session on the future of the nearly century-old mill.

"You can see where the cotton dust is still hanging," said tour director and urban planner Steve Myers, as dozens of people craned their heads upward to look at the coated steel beams, remnants of the mill's heyday as the weave shed for Bates Manufacturing.

"Now watch your step," he added, as the the crowd obediently dropped its collective gaze to the uneven wood floors and continued on.

The tour through the 365,000-square-foot building - bigger than the Auburn Mall - was intended to give the crowd a sense of the historic structure before the Bates Mill No. 5 Task Force tapped them for ideas on what to do with it. But for some, it was already familiar terrain.

"Both my parents worked here," said Vic Gagnon, as he surveyed the old loom space. "This is L-A. This is what we're all about."... Finish Reading

Mike Carey
Lewiston

Jan 5th Public Meeting

The City Council mandate included the following: "The Task Force shall conduct at least one public hearing prior to issuance of the final report".
Most of the 15 citizen members of the Task Force had no little or no professional experience with the structural, financial and functional topics inherent in the re-use of a building or site on the scale of Mill #5. After considering and debating possible uses, we commissioned a series of professional studies to guide our deliberations.
We decided to have two public meetings, one before we received professional reports, and the second after.
The first meeting, on January 5th, had three elements:

• A tour of the facility lead by Steve Myers of Platz Associates. Much of the information from the tour is available in a fact sheet.

• Public Meeting participants received a handout about the building that included some information abstructural facts and information about historical operating losses.
  
• A presentation by co-chairs Mike Carey and Jonathan Labonte. The size of that presentation prevents it from being posted online, but it is available by emailing batesmill5@gmail.com
• Small group conversations about possible uses for the building and land. Notes from those conversations can be found at: notes.

The Sun-Journal published a story the next day.
Architect Gabrielle Russell sent the Task Force a letter after the meeting with a forceful argument for the building's preservation. She included a document detailing the costs and financial benefits of Green Building.

Mike Carey
Lewiston