Land Revitalization Success Stories | EPA#560-F22-283 December 2022 Planning for Sustainable Brownfield Redevelopment EAST MILLINOCKET, MAINE - FORMER GREAT NORTHERN PAPER MILL CONCEPTUAL SITE REUSE PLAN PROJECT DESCRIPTION • Community: East Millinocket, ME • EPA Regional Lead: Jim Byrne, bvrne.iames@epa.gov • Site and Use: The Great Northern Paper Mill is a large brownfield site (over 250 acres). As contamination issues are addressed, the site layout needs to be reorganized to maximize commercial developable area, street frontage, and site access • Technical Assistance: Conceptual Site Reuse Plan PROJECT BACKGROUND The Great Northern Paper (GNP) mill was constructed in 1901 and quickly became the world's largest paper mill. At its peak in the 1960s-1970s, the mill employed more than 2,000 people. However, global competition and lack of investment led to mill down-sizing and layoffs in the 1990s, followed by its devastating closure in 2008. Now, cleaning up and reusing the GNP mill is an opportunity to bring new amenities to the area and create sustainable green space, The Town intends to lease the land to viable businesses as they are identified, with a goal to increase the tax base and provide jobs in the region, PROJECT CHALLENGES Reuse opportunities for this large site are limited due to lack of access in/through the site and location of existing buildings, To achieve the Town's redevelopment goals, several structures on the site will need to be selectively demolished and the site will need to be environmentally remediated. The Town needed assistance with initial site design concepts that would maximize developable area, access and street frontage, EPA'S TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Figure 1: The Great Northern Paper Mill site, October 2021 EPA's Land Revitalization team supported East Millinocket by: • Creating analysis diagrams and base maps of the site and existing conditions, in order to ensure proper planning for existing buildings, infrastructure and utilities, • Coordinating a site visit with local city officials and key stakeholders to help them develop project redevelopment goals and objectives, • Analyzing key development opportunities and evaluating the site constraints to determine potential impacts to future development. • Delivering a final conceptual site design and report that can be used to engage additional stakeholders and city leaders. NEXT STEPS FOR CONSIDERATION Figure 1: Great Northern Paper Mill Conceptual Site Reuse Plan • Conduct additional investigations to evaluate additional development constraints, including building structural conditions, hazardous building materials investigations, transportation access studies, and planning for other infrastructure improvements (such as broadband installation and utility relocation or connection to specific development areas). • Continue discussions about reorganizing the site as proposed in the conceptual site design to maximize developable area, street frontage, and site access. • Seek public funding to help refine the design concepts and implement the plan. ------- |