Conference 7.286::maynard

    I'm still here! I work in the EPM group here in bldg 5. We will be
    the last Digital group to occupy space in the Mill. It is pretty sad.
    I've here since 1970-a real Mill rat.
     I don't see much construction going on at this point, but I think
    there will be some activity this summer. We're supposed to move out
    in the fall, if not earlier. Not sure where we are going yet, but I'm 
    hoping we'll stay local. I hope the new tennants will help with the
    downtown economy. It's definitely the end of an era....
    
    /Bob
    
    
    
      

  It's been 3 months since the last reply. Has anything more happened on the
Mill conversion project?

    Nothing official yet, but I did have a chat with the owner of the
    Mill last week and he told me that funding for phase one of the
    project was just about finalized.   
    
    Frank

   I understand that the people interested in the Mill health care
   project have filed bankruptcy.

   They owe Boston Edison some large sum of money, and hence
   electricity and gas have been shut off.  Only the generator
   is running (in the boiler house) so the clock is lit at night.

   I heard that the pipes were bursting due the lack of heat, and
   that there are no guards - the town police are patrolling
   now and then.  It is pitch black and deserted if you pass by.

   So that's probably that for the Mill, if all the stories are true.

   - Jim

  I'm sorry to hear this. I sensed a year ago that Franklin Healthcare had bit
off more than they could chew, but I was hoping that "something" would happen
before the project failed.
  What I am most concerned about is the pipes breaking. It should be fairly
easy to confirm if this is happening; I don't think the owners would be able
to hide this from the building inspector, fire dept., etc. (I am not saying
they are trying to hide anything.) Broken pipes mean to me that the floor
is getting soaked and, unless the leaks are confined to the basement, this
means damage that could cost big bucks to fix. It also means to me that the
sprinkler system may not work if the place catches on fire, and you know what
that means.

    This makes me sad too.  I gave a lecture last Thursday night at a
    camera club meeting in an old mill building on Waltham which has been
    converted to a retirement community and a bunch of boutique-type artsy
    shops.  It was quite nice, except that there wasn't much close-in
    parking (all reserved for residents; people attending meetings in the
    function rooms there had to park in the remote boonies).  Quite a few
    elderly residents of the complex came to see the program, as well as
    the regular club members.  I kept thinking that this is what our old
    digs in Maynard could  have become.  Sigh.  The only real problem with
    the place was that it was real hot inside - which seems to be true of a
    lot of retirement homes anyhow - I guess it is healthier for people
    with poor circulation in their extremities.  It was refinishged very
    nicely, with exposed big oak beams and sandblasted brick walls.
    
    /Charlotte

There are some lights, but it is a lot darker than it was a few months
ago.

>    digs in Maynard could  have become.  Sigh.  The only real problem with
>    the place was that it was real hot inside - which seems to be true of a
>    lot of retirement homes anyhow -

  It's very difficult to regulate heat in old mills, even if a new heating
system has been installed. Recall how the Maynard Mill had hot and cold spots
during the winter even in the late 80's.
  My guess is that they keep it hot to accommodate the elderly (who don't ALL
want to be in a superheated place, but the majority rules) and don't have 
enough zones to keep the "public" spaces at normal temp.

    Anyone know what's going on? (or what's not going on).
    
    As a resident of Maynard I read the local paper every week.  Several
    weeks ago there was an article that indicating that they hoped their
    funding would come through within 2 weeks.  2 weeks have come and gone
    and there has been nothing else in the paper.
    
    I hear lots of rumors around town but was wondering if anyone REALLY
    knows what is going on.
    
    Me and my tax rate are worried...

Just another rumor (and not a particularly recent one either), but ...

I understand the reason Franklin Lifecare was unable to get funding, was
that no investor would touch it, with all the "pollution" that would need
to be cleaned up.

Between old mill materials and embedded oils, asbestos, and more modern
chemical contaminants Digital may have been responsible for, the Mill is
considered an environmental nightmare.  Franklin thought they could do it;
but the banks won't have any part of it.

    ummmmm.  I note the word RUMOR.
    
    I surely don't know what may or may not be around.  I DO know I
    PERSONALLY watched several asbestos inspections go on, with a resultant
    'clean bill of health' being given.  And that was years ago...
    
    regards
    	dwp
    

It may be free of asbestos; I just mentioned it as a possible contaminant
that everyone worries about.

For all I know, investors might not even bother to look at the place or
review the inspection reports.  All they know is it's old, and old mills
usually are full of oils, and this one might have modern junk too. 
Remember the old rumors, however false, that the river was a virtual
computer "museum".

There have been some spectacular mill fires in the last decade or two, with
those old timbers soaked with 100-year-old lanolin oil and stuff.