Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / The inside of one of the Peerless Woolen Mills buildings is seen through a broken window on Friday, June 9, in Rossville, Ga.Do you want to own the cornerstone of Rossville, Ga.? Well, step right up!
The owners of Peerless Woolen Mills are auctioning off their 27-acre, 1-million-square-foot complex at noon Thursday to whoever brings the most money to the table. The 112-year-old building, with its old brick and dirty windows, might go for $1. Or maybe $1 million.
"It's got a lot of potential," said Chuck Fisher, marketing director for Furrow Auction Co. "In my opinion, it would be a great asset for the city."
He said buyers could demolish the building and lease the site to a big department store, or maybe a series of shops. Or maybe, if they wanted, they could continue to rent to current tenants. A couple of companies operate there now, including Praters Flooring, the workers who make basketball hardwood for pro and college teams around the country.
According to the Furrow Auction Co. website, the site generates a $156,000 in annual income.
On Thursday, Fisher hosted prospective purchasers. By noon, two hours into the open house, Fisher said about six people had checked out the site. Still, he believes interest in the mill is high.
"It's the kind of property [where] you may not get a lot of people to the open house," he said. "Most everybody has seen it or been through it in the last 100 years."
Located on McFarland Avenue across from the police and fire department, the mill first opened in 1905, the same year Rossville was chartered. John Hutcheson started the business with a $130,000 investment, according to Times Free Press archives.
He hired about 200 employees. Over time, the city came to depend on the mill. By World War II, according to archives, the plant was the largest mill for wool products in the country. About 3,000 people worked there, and branches of the U.S. military bought blankets and uniforms made there.
The mill even had a basketball court, where a semi-pro team was part of the Southern Textile League.
Business activity ebbed and flowed for years. In 2007, according to Walker County Property Appraiser records, Les Coffey bought the mill from Rossville Development Co. for $1.4 million.
As owner, Coffey feuded with the city and a tenant. He filed an arrest warrant against the tenant, claiming the man stole property from him. The tenant, in turn, claimed Coffey actually stole from him. Both men were arrested. Police also accused Coffey of throwing blocks into the sewer line that ran past the mill, clogging it. In 2011, police arrested Coffey for allegedly threatening officials of Tennessee American Water after the company cut off the mill's water service.
The Rossville Development Co., which held the note on the property, foreclosed in 2012. Last week, Fisher said the family is ready to unload the property, after more than a century.
Coffey, who pleaded no contest to criminal charges and agreed not to step foot back in Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade and Walker counties, said he is not interested in buying back the mill.
"They couldn't give that property to me," he said. "They couldn't pay me to come down and mess with those people."
Last year, with funding from the Lyndhurst Foundation and support from Thrive 2055, a group of University of Georgia landscape architecture students presented potential redevelopment ideas for the site.
The students argued that developers could turn the 27-acre space into outdoor recreation retail shops, smaller manufacturing operations, a railroad center, a civic plaza and a mixed-use space for technology companies and environmental organizations.
Bridgett Massengill, executive director of Thrive 2055, said Rossville city leaders believe the mill site is a key to revitalizing downtown. But Mayor Teddy Harris said the city itself won't buy the land.
One potential problem for any buyer? Harris said the owner will have to figure out how to slow the flow of stormwater running through the sewer system. Rossville's public works director believes problems at the mill allow too much water into the system. The eventual owner of the property will have to appear in city court in July to discuss a potential $1,000-per- day fine until the problem is fixed.
Fisher said he will disclose that issue to any potential buyer.
"[The city] will expect the new owner to address that issue at some point in time," he said. "The problem is with the property and not the seller."
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.