Fraser papers found a buyer for the Berlin mill site. They'll scrap it out, except for the tallest smokestack and the cogenerator plant.
Bully for all parties. Fraser found a buyer, the buyer makes a profit, and Berlin gains some valuable space (things are
tight between those valley walls!)
Future of the site is unknown, other than the 25 megawatt generator. Could be industrial, could be residential. Let us pray it's not "converted space", or a green buffer zone.
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Berlin+mill+to+vanish&articleId=133e057b-89e6-418a-b699-61b9a6c92f2cBerlin mill to vanish
By LORNA COLQUHOUN
Union Leader Correspondent
Berlin ? The enormous pulp mill that has loomed over the center of the city was purchased yesterday by the same company that dismantled the remnants of the World Trade Center in New York City following the 2001 terrorist attacks.
North American Dismantling Corp. closed on the deal with owner of the 121-acres site, Fraser Papers, which permanently closed the mill last May, ending a rich era of the region. Officials did not disclose the sale price.
Fraser had been actively seeking a buyer for the property since it announced earlier this year that it would cease pulp operations.
The Michigan-based company plans to dismantle and demolish the mill complex, except for the No. 11 boiler, a soaring 11-story high smoke stack, and the co-generation plant below it. Once the operation begins, it will take about a year to complete.
"This is a very momentous event," said Berlin City Manager J. Patrick McQueen. "Not everyone gets a chance to redefine a city." Company officials were represented by attorney Jack Crisp, who called the sale of the property "a moment of history for the city of Berlin" which is " steeped in history."
"For better or worse, the days of an operating pulp mill have come to an end," he said.
North American Dismantling Corp. began talking with Fraser officials a little over a month ago and were one of several companies that had expressed interest in the property. Crisp said the sale was "on a fast track" and no plans are currently in place for future development of the site.
As the mill complex is taken down, elements of it will be sold or otherwise reused.
But, city officials said, the demolition company has expressed a willingness to work with them in redefining the city once the property is cleared.
Crisp said he has walked the property several times as the sale has proceeded and it was "like walking through history -- you can see parts of the mill that were put there a long time ago."
Not everyone at yesterday afternoon's news conference announcing the sale shared the enthusiasm. Ward 4 City Councilor Paul Grenier, who has lived most of his life on the city's East Side, in the shadow of the pulp mill, said if the city wants redefine itself, the entire complex should be taken down.
"Berlin needs to completely reinvent itself and that's not going to happen by leaving a relic of the 1940s to generate 25 megawatts of electricity," he said. "It's good and bad, but I don't share the enthusiasm in the room."
