A recent sale promises a better future for Rossville's long-shuttered Peerless Woolen Mills. Meanwhile a federal brownfields restoration planning grant won by Walker County this week opens the door for more properties around the county to be restored.
"We want to bring back the heart of Rossville," Tyler Cauble, who recently bought the mill property, said. "Bring it [the mill] back as a mixed-use town center that's kind of a hub for activity in the city again. So we're going to slowly roll it out. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do to restore the mill."
Cauble said organizers want to keep as much of the property intact as possible. Within a year, he said, they'll start using the property as space for light industrial companies and self-storage because it's the fastest and most affordable use to get started.
Eventually, the Nashville native wants to bring retail, restaurants, loft apartments, office space and even movie studios to the property, purchased for $5.6 million.
"We have a million and a half square feet to play with, so we're planning on creating something very unique," Cauble said.
Atlanta's Ponce City, an old Sears distribution center that became an adaptive reuse project, is a model for what they want to do, he said.
(READ MORE: Revitalization of Rossville area joins forces across state lines)
Brownfield sites
Up to 30 brownfield sites will be assessed with the $500,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, Shannon Whitfield, chairman of the Walker County Board of Commissioners, said. The Peerless mill and Crystal Springs Print Works Mill in Chickamauga have already been chosen for assessment, and later on other property owners can be considered by the county for a brownfield assessment.
"It's just perfect timing," Whitfield said of Cauble's purchase of the mill last week, "because we've been working on this brownfield assessment grant for a couple of years."
The Peerless mill was chosen as a "core feature" site because it's such a centerpiece of Rossville and has been a brownfield for so long, he said at a news conference for the effort.
Water and soil samples are part of the assessment phase, Whitfield said, and in the second phase, the county will seek more funding for the actual cleanup. A cleanup costs about $1 million per property, he said.
Whitfield said the municipalities of Chickamauga, LaFayette and Rossville were part of the granting process, and he credited state Sen. Jeff Mullis and state Reps. Mike Cameron and Steve Tarvin for help in the process.
Elizabeth Wells, an economic development consultant for both LaFayette and Rossville, said there are over 475 acres of potential brownfields that could be redeveloped in the county. Also at the news conference, she said Rossville has over 70 acres of that. Much of this land isn't generating any tax revenue for the county while also diminishing the value of nearby properties, she said.
"These sites are primed for redevelopment due to their city center locations," Wells said in a statement. "But, environmental contamination and the cost of cleanup have inhibited site reuse. Through environmental assessment and site-specific risk screening, these properties can be cleared for redevelopment."
(READ MORE: Amigo Restaurant first to move into former Peerless Woolen Mill site in Rossville)
Wells said things have changed, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is no longer punitive but instead wants to partner with communities to get brownfield properties cleaned up and back into use. She said there will be community meetings on finding and selecting other sites around the county for brownfield assessment.
Peerless Woolen Mills
Mullis said the sale of Peerless Woolen Mills is an outstanding opportunity for Rossville and all of Walker County.
"Peerless Woolen Mills has contributed so much to America, especially in World War II. It is truly a landmark," Mullis said. "So we have an opportunity to improve and make that into a multiuse location. I think that'd be great for the area."
There's been talk of using the space for gambling, but Mullis said legalized gambling would have to be passed by the General Assembly. If it went on the ballot, Mullis said he thinks 70% of Georgians would vote for it.
Cauble said most of his developments are in the Nashville area, but he's recently been looking for opportunities in nearby cities like Chattanooga, Huntsville and Louisville. In early 2021, he bought Chattanooga's Newell Tower.
"Obviously, Nashville has gotten so ridiculously expensive," he said.
The first step, Cauble said, is to clean up and secure property, " and then start trying to activate it, and get people used to coming back on site. So we're looking to start doing weekend farmers markets or having food trucks to come out there for people to hang out at."
(READ MORE: Chattanooga-area farmers markets prepping for the season's first crops)
Rossville Mayor Teddy Harris also attended the news conference. He said the mill's sale was a "great thing" that city officials have been wanting to happen for many years. The blankets made at the Peerless mill made Rossville somewhat famous, Harris said.
"World War II, they were the largest producer of military blankets in the United States," Harris said. "So, if you was in one of the four branches of service, you probably got a blanket that said: 'Peerless, Rossville, Georgia.'"
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @tweetatwilkins.