Former Connecticut textile mill wins award for redevelopment
Addison Mill in Glastonbury, Connecticut had historic value and a certain rustic beauty, but not much else. Developer Martin Kenny, president of Lexington Partners LLC, saw the potential of the 19th-century water-powered textile mill and refused to give up, battling through a failing real estate market, shaky backing and gloomy predictions to turn the old mill into award-winning luxury apartments while preserving as much of the historical architecture as possible.
It wasn’t easy. There was major asbestos abatement built into the renovation project, and the entire structure had to be shored up from the bottom, where dilapidated supports were causing the building to sag on its foundation. The payoff is an authentic Neo-Classical Revival architecture with high ceilings, brick interior walls, graceful archways and exposed columns. Kenney took the nod to history one step further by decorating the common area walls with photographs of former Glastonbury Knitting Co. employees who made a living sewing wool long johns for Civil War soldiers.
For the full story, go to Hartford Business Journal.
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