Remains Of Bernat Mill Come Down
Owners on the prowl for anchor tenant
By Sara Withee
Special to the Worcester Business Journal
The owners of an Uxbridge mill destroyed in an eight-alarm blaze last summer hope to finish demolition in the next couple weeks and sign the anchor tenant who will determine the shape of their new mixed-use complex.
Demolition crews have been working steadily at the Bernat Mill Complex since July 21, when a tenant's welding accident sparked the town's largest fire ever and brought out more than 600 firefighters and emergency personnel â the state's largest response since the 1999 inferno that killed six firefighters at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co.
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Some 65 businesses and 300 employees were displaced from the 350,000-square-foot complex. But most of the cleanup remained out of sight until the walls came down early in May. Just a few parts of the old yarn mill remain standing, including the entrance.
âWe're going to try to save that if we can only because it's an old art deco style entrance,â said Leonard âCappyâ Fournier of Capron Corp., which owns the 12-acre mill property. âBut we don't know if we're going to be able to save it.â
Some parts of the complex have already been restored and others may be, depending on the anchor tenant, Fournier said.
Fournier says he and his partner Jack Tweed are currently talking to a medical center about becoming the anchor tenant, then hope to add retail and office space around it. Residential units will be built on the top of the new structure.
Built in the 1820s, the mill gained fame in the early 1900s as the headquarters for the Uxbridge Worsted Co., maker of the cotton âUxbridge Blues,â fabric used in United States military uniforms. It housed mostly manufacturing businesses until Capron Corp. purchased it in 2004 and began adding small retail clients. Located on the Blackstone River, the mill was among the worst hit in the Oct. 2005 floods that devastated many Blackstone Valley towns. In Nov. 2006, Uxbridge Town Meeting created a special mixed-use zoning district paving the way for condominiums on the site.
While many businesses in the mill have relocated, at least 12 former tenants have expressed interest in returning along with some other small businesses, Fournier said. However, he said the building won't be actively marketed until the anchor tenant is signed.
Sara Withee is a freelance writer based in Millis.
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