MONROE — The state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has hired an engineering firm and landscape architects to design a public park that will replace the dilapidated “green building” section of the old Ramage Paper mill.
Brown, Richardson and Rowe, a landscape architectural design and planning firm out of Boston has been hired, along with Stantec engineering of Northampton to design Monroe’s public park.
The public process to create the design will begin as soon as the demolition of the mill is complete. If all goes as planned, the building will be torn down in January, weather permitting, and construction on the park will begin next summer.
Last week, the state awarded grants for $520,000 to help pay for part of the demolition of the old mill building, which is in danger of collapsing into the Deerfield River. About $370,000 of the latest Environmental Affairs grant is to be used for building a new park.
The cost alone for the building demolition is estimated at $280,000 — because of lead, asbestos and other hazardous wastes in the deteriorating building. Before the latest grant was awarded, this town of 121 residents had a $30,000 grant from TransCanada, and $100,000 brownfields grant awarded by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG). But the town needed to raise the rest before the building caved in, polluting the river downstream, where there is fishing, whitewater rafting and kayaking.
“Monroe has been working for years to find funding to assist in the remediation of this structure, as we know its collapse would have a devastating environmental and economic impact to the Deerfield River and our neighboring towns,” said Town Clerk Marcella Stafford-Gore. She said the town is grateful to the state and to FRCOG. “We look forward to getting rid of this blight in our community and giving townspeople and visitors a space they will enjoy for many years.”
“Monroe is one of the smallest towns in Massachusetts, and it would be impossible for them to undertake this project without help from the state,” said state Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru. “I am thankful to (Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton) for recognizing the need of this very small town and the importance of completing this project in a timely manner.”
Peggy Sloan, FRCOG’s director of planning and development, said “The recreational tourism industry is an important economic driver … and a healthy and accessible Deerfield River is critical to support this business sector. She said the timely effort to clear the land “ensures the watershed is protected from potential building debris contamination and creates a new asset along the Deerfield River.”
State Sen. Benjamin Downing, D-Pittsfield, thanked the Gov. Charlie Baker administration, saying: “Turning a dilapidated mill into a public park is a smart and effective use of taxpayer resources.”
James Ramage started making paper on the site in 1887, and it later became the manufacturing center for the Deerfield Glassine Co. and Deerfield Specialty Paper, which closed in 1996. The mill complex (brick building and green building) was sold to a private owner, who hasn’t paid taxes since 1999 and who did not respond to the town’s July order to tear down the building, which was condemned last year.