Renovated building ready to welcome new occupants
Chelsea Eakin
Issue date: 11/4/08 Section: Local News
Edgy, industrial, cool and hip. These are all words Paul Boghossian '76 used to describe the feel of the new Hathaway Creative Center.
Boghossian and his team were "racing the clock" last week to put the finishing touches on the third floor of the Hathaway, just in time to welcome the renovated building's first new occupants-employees of MaineGeneral and the HealthReach Network.
The project broke ground in January, after three years of planning and much anticipation. Boghossian, a Rhode Island developer, and his partner, Thomas Neimann of North Carolina, purchased the former Hathaway shirt factory from the City of Waterville in December 2007, marking the beginning of the first phase in a $65 to 70 million plan to renovate not only the Hathaway, but also the adjacent buildings in the abandoned Lockwoods Mills Complex off of Water Street.
Boghossian is reviving the complex that anchors downtown Waterville and renovating it to house apartments, artisan space, offices, restaurants and shops. The construction is modernizing the structure while at the same time preserving aspects of its historic appeal, such as the lofty ceilings, large 1890s style windows and old wooden staircases.
The brick and granite building is one of several cotton mills constructed along the river by the Lockwood Company in the late 1800s. The building is best known as the manufacturing headquarters of the Hathaway Shirt Company. Hathaway, which operated out of Waterville for 165 years, was one of the nation's largest shirt manufacturers and was nationally recognized for its unique style.
The fourth and fifth floors are being furnished to house 66 one-bedroom studio apartments appealing to two demographics-young professionals whose stay in Waterville may be temporary, for example non-tenure track professors and medical professionals on rotation, and an older crowd of people who want a convenient living space ("people sick of shoveling snow," Boghossian said) within walking distance to town. There are already over 200 people signed on as interested in renting the apartments once they are completed next year.
Boghossian and his team were "racing the clock" last week to put the finishing touches on the third floor of the Hathaway, just in time to welcome the renovated building's first new occupants-employees of MaineGeneral and the HealthReach Network.
The project broke ground in January, after three years of planning and much anticipation. Boghossian, a Rhode Island developer, and his partner, Thomas Neimann of North Carolina, purchased the former Hathaway shirt factory from the City of Waterville in December 2007, marking the beginning of the first phase in a $65 to 70 million plan to renovate not only the Hathaway, but also the adjacent buildings in the abandoned Lockwoods Mills Complex off of Water Street.
Boghossian is reviving the complex that anchors downtown Waterville and renovating it to house apartments, artisan space, offices, restaurants and shops. The construction is modernizing the structure while at the same time preserving aspects of its historic appeal, such as the lofty ceilings, large 1890s style windows and old wooden staircases.
The brick and granite building is one of several cotton mills constructed along the river by the Lockwood Company in the late 1800s. The building is best known as the manufacturing headquarters of the Hathaway Shirt Company. Hathaway, which operated out of Waterville for 165 years, was one of the nation's largest shirt manufacturers and was nationally recognized for its unique style.
The fourth and fifth floors are being furnished to house 66 one-bedroom studio apartments appealing to two demographics-young professionals whose stay in Waterville may be temporary, for example non-tenure track professors and medical professionals on rotation, and an older crowd of people who want a convenient living space ("people sick of shoveling snow," Boghossian said) within walking distance to town. There are already over 200 people signed on as interested in renting the apartments once they are completed next year.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Carol Majdalany Williams
posted 11/15/08 @ 4:23 PM EST
I'm delighted to think of a revival of downtown Waterville. If you need to see a successful story of such a venture elsewhere, take a look at Hanover, NH. (Continued…)
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