REMERTON, GA -
A historic cotton mill that basically helped create the city of Remerton is going to be demolished.
The city council gave the owners permission to tear the building down. That decision disappoints some people who have fought hard to save the old mill.
Built in 1899, the Strickland Cotton Mill was a huge clothing and linen mill in South Georgia. The City of Remerton was founded because of the mill's economic success. It closed in 2005 and has been vacant ever since. Celine Gladwin heads the Save the Mill committee and says tearing it down is a travesty.
"Once the mill is gone it is irreplaceable, they are not going to build another building such as the mill; the memories are erased, people lived here. Without the mill, Remerton would not have been an existence," said Gladwin.
City leaders say restoring the mill would be too large of a project for the small town. And the ownership group says keeping the building is too costly. But not all of the mill will be demolished, the historic smokestack tower will still stand.
The city plans to build a park on the property and there will be a walkway leading to the smokestack tower.
Steve Bachman owns a business across the street from the mill and says the city may regret allowing it to be torn down in the future.
"It doesn't effect me, or bother, or upset me, but I think it will be a mistake in the long run, something they might regret later," said Bachman.
Gladwin says the committee's goal has been to market the mill across the county to find developers who may want to restore it, but there was not enough time.
"We just wanted the city to put in the legal tools to protect the 1899 mill so we can continue our marketing efforts, three months were not enough to get the necessary exposure for this project," said Gladwin.
Gladwin says it's disheartening to see such an iconic building go.
The demolition of the mill should begin in the next month or so.
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