Notice:
Sustainable Valley Group (SVG) and Bellows Falls Historical Society (BFHS) posted literature and photos on large posters in the Peoples Bank window and are hosting a public forum at Windham Antiques Monday February 22nd at 7:00 pm.
We feel it is important for voters to have multiple perspectives on this issue before committing:
- $100,000 to start, plus
- the liability of testing and potential discovery for contamination disposal, plus
- discovery of excess costs associated with saving the canal wall while demolishing the structure on top it that has been supporting it for nearly 150 years, and
- going against the goals and policies of historic preservation and adaptive re-use in our town plan.
Comment:
The TLR Mill Complex is representative of the rich Paper Industry history from the Bellows Falls Industrial Zone. There are many reasons to consider preservation and redevelopment of this facility.
- International Paper got their start in this complex, and while they left BF in early 1900’s, they are still a successful world-wide paper maker today (55,000 employees in 24 countries)
- The first commissioned canal in the United States shares a wall with the foundation of this complex, ran through this mill complex and of the facilities still standing along the riverfront, powered it and the Grist Mill in the late 1800’s
- There have been many $100,000’s of local private, Town of Rockingham, State of VT and Federal funds invested already, in structural and environmental assessments, feasibility studies and plans, and partial implementation of these plans including following the recommendations for:
- successfully applying to funding sources identified in the studies to pay for demolition, sealing and temporary stabilization, contamination abatement
- demolition of the portions of the facility that were contaminated and not structurally sound
- sealing and temporary stabilization of the portions of the facility that are structurally sound and feasible for adaptive re-use
- abatement of contamination in the facility as part of the adaptive re-use plan
More recently there have been re-use proposals for the TLR Mill complex that include the whole Riverfront area; the Frank Adams Grist Mill, the Wyman-Flint Mill, and the Scenic Riverfront Park and Trail System by world renowned architect Michael Singer Studios in 2008. In today’s economic climate adaptive re-use redevelopment requires multi-use proposals to be financially feasible. The greater Bellows Falls community has come out in numbers this year and two years ago to participate in redevelopment forums and charettes for the Island Revitalization study by John Mullin and Chemco/Liberty Mill forum by interested residents, citizens and "Rockingham for Progress".
SVG and BFHS submitted a "Letter of Intent” (LOI) last year, as requested by the town notice, to develop a redevelopment proposal based on these early studies, building the relationships with the identified partners and funding sources. The town rejected our LOI, so we did not spend time on, nor did we ask architects and engineers to spend time on developing the proposal, funding sources and partners.
There are certainly many reasons to move in either direction and we expect to hear support and plans for demolition of the facilities on Monday evening, as well as support for and new ideas for the adaptive re-use of these facilities.
Rockingham residents, please get informed on all the options and come to Town Meeting Monday night February 29th and vote on this!
Respectfully submitted,
Gary Fox, Executive Director
Sustainable Valley Group, Inc.

Jan 17, 2025, 10 AM to 11 PM

Jan 18, 2025, 10 AM to 12 PM

Jan 18, 2025, 11 AM to 1 PM