Somers Man Proposes Turning Somersville Mill Into a Park

It's been over a year since the historic mill in Somersville burned down from a fire caused by discarded cigarette butts.

And at least one local official, whose family founded the mill, has a few ideas of what could be done with the site.

Timothy R.W. Keeney, a local probate judge, said he plans on speaking with officials in Somers in the coming weeks to figure out what could be done to transform this pile of steel and brick rubble into an idea he's been pondering for a while now: a cultural park.


The former mill sits on a five-acre plot in a flood zone near a river, and the property abuts the Potter Hollow greenway, Keeney explained. With the proper care, this could be converted into a recreational area but also include remnants of the former mill as a historical landmark.

The mill goes back to the mid-19th century, having at one point employed 400 people locally in Somers, Keeney wrote in a column published on Ellington-Somers Patch this week. It had operated until it was closed in 1969 amid the flight of manufacturing out of Connecticut into other parts of the country.

All of that history went up in flames during the fire in June 2012.

"The idea is to try to take advantage of the history of the site," Keeney said earlier this week. "Maybe do something with some of the remaining structures, like using a wall to be involved with telling a history of the site."

The project would be a financial endeavor, and it would start with the clean-up and debris removal. Keeney said he wanted to look into whether the town could obtain state or federal grants to do that. He also suggested the potential formation of a "development corporation," similar to the one in Enfield, which focuses on revitalization efforts.

When asked about Keeney's suggestion of turning the mill into a park, First Selectman Lisa Pellegrini said she has talked to him before about it but she hasn't seen any formal proposal yet. 

As far as the town's part in this, Pellegrini said she's been in communications with the town attorney about different options.

"The town could buy it, however I'm not recommending it," Pellegrini said. "The cost to salvage everything is a hefty thing."

The property can't just stay the way it is, Pellegrini said, but even taking steps to just rehabilitate the property could cost between $250,000 and $500,000.

The town does not own the property, however it does have the ability to repossess it. This is because the current owner, Manhattan-based Venture Capitals, LLC, is behind on its taxes and the town has already spent some $40,000 to pay for the emergency response for the fire, the fence to be put up and other costs, said Tax Collector Donna Doyker.

"So in effect we actually have more ownership of that property than even the company that owns it," Doyker said.

Per state law, the owners were notified via certified mail about the back taxes and accrued costs and they have yet to respond, Doyker said. So, because of the that, the town put the property up for a tax sale in August to recoup funds from the back taxes, the tax collector said.

But, nobody bought the property, meaning it now goes back to the owner, she said. This is the third tax sale in just over a year.