Old Clearwater mill being torn down, will be redeveloped

A backhoe tears down one of the buildings set for disassembly. Since Oct. 10, buildings have come down with an eye toward redeveloping the site. Staff photo by Haley Hughes.

CLEARWATER -- Piles of brick, cinder block and metal are all that is left of 10 buildings on the Clearwater Finishing Plant site, but, in their place, redevelopers envision for the future assisted living, single-family residences, small retail and green space.

Property owner Managing Partner Christian Morton and Nathan Dockery, general contractor with Dockery Group, led a small group of people through the site Monday, pointing out the progress that has been made to abate and disassemble the buildings and explaining what steps they will take next to develop the land into something useful to the Clearwater community.

The Clearwater Finishing Plant is a vacant, dilapidated textile mill on Belvedere Road that has been abandoned since the 1980s after the company went bankrupt.

Approximately 15 buildings stood on the 64-acre site on Belvedere Road, and, since Oct. 21, a total of 10 have been disassembled. Morton expects all remaining buildings will be abated of asbestos completely by next week.

Dockery said his and Morton's goal is to recreate mixed-use development, like loft apartments, retail, assisted living and single-family homes.

"We want to work on a master plan the community can stand behind," Dockery said.

Those in the tour group including Rep. J. Roland Smith, R-Warrenville, Aiken County Council Chairman Ronnie Young, County Councilwoman LaWana McKenzie and several former plant employees watched as two backhoes performed some final disassembly of the day on the back end of the plant, tearing down brick walls.

Crews have been sorting the raw building materials, and Morton has found buyers for some of it, especially the antique bricks.

"The final aggregate left over, we'll grind it up and use it for future development. We're trying make the material 85 percent reusable," Morton said.

The buildings that will remain standing include the main one - the newest one which displays the large Clearwater Finishing Plant sign. The sign will be integrated into the redevelopment.

"It's amazing. It's very different. Obviously this is progress, which we need," said Glyn Luke, who worked in the plant for more than four years. "I don't see anything negative here; it's all positive."

In its heyday, the plant employed between 800 and 1,200 workers and finishing all of the textiles coming from the area mills, including Bath and Langley.

Smith, who worked in the plant's print shop for more than 15 years, said, before the Savannah River Site, Clearwater Finishing was one of the best places to work.

"It's something of an eyesore now, but you can see the progress. What we see here now are people investing their resources to start the vast improvement we need. They've got a vision, and the vision is for the community, for a better quality of life for the citizens," he said.

Aiken County took possession of the neighboring Seminole Mill in 2007 from a private owner so that contamination - asbestos and lead-based paint included - could be safely removed and the buildings demolished. At the time, the property had been vacant for about 14 years and had fallen into disrepair.

All that remains above ground of Seminole Mill now is the stately smoke stack and the front office building bearing the former textile mill's name.

McKenzie said it is a possibility the redevelopment of the two sites could be tied together.

"Being side by side, you've got to look at them being compatible uses. This is a positive catalyst that can spread. What is developed here sets the tone," she said.

Haley Hughes is approaching her 5-year anniversary as the Aiken County government reporter with the Aiken Standard. Hughes, a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, hails from Knoxville, Tenn.