The non-profit Richford Main Street Mill Development Corporation engaged the Hartland Group to create a marketing and redevelopment plan for a vacant industrial building in downtown Richford. Once used in the manufacture of maple furniture for the Sweat-Comings Company, the structure is an excellent example of early twentieth century mill architecture and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Using their past experience with adaptive reuse and historic renovation projects, Hartland’s partners helped create a plan to improve Richford’s quality of life and economy while preserving an important reminder of its place in American industrial history.

Now, in partnership with the Richford Health Center and Housing Vermont, the Hartland Group is putting this plan into action with a complete historic renovation of the Sweat-Comings mill. When complete, the building will be home to a ground-floor supermarket and pharmacy, new offices and clinics for the Richford Health Center on the second floor, and third-floor affordable housing units with views of the Missisquoi River valley. The design by architect Tyler Scott, in consultation with state and private historic advisors, remains sensitive to the historic aspects of the building and the site while adapting it for modern uses. Construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2006.

History

After a fire devastated its old wooden building in 1907, the Sweat-Comings Company rebuilt and modernized its factory using ornate concrete blocks and the latest machinery for the construction of maple furniture. The new buildings served multiple community purposes with ground-floor retail uses such as a plumbing company, barbershop, and pharmacy in addition to the Sweat-Comings factory and office operations located on the upper floors. With a façade fronting on Main Street, the new factory was one of downtown Richford’s most significant assets.

Business boomed for the Sweat-Comings Company and in 1923, at a cost of about $150,000, the company built a third three-story building along Powell Street. The only Sweat-Comings mill building still standing today, it was constructed as a state-of-the-art facility for the production of the finest in maple dining-room furniture. The dedication ball for the new building boasted two thousand guests, a testament to the importance of the industry to the local community.

Like many similar mills in the Northeastern United States, the Sweat-Comings business declined through the 1980’s and finally ceased operations in 1995. Sadly, the 1908 and 1909 buildings had deteriorated so much in those final years that they ultimately had to be demolished despite the town’s best preservation efforts. Fortunately, the historic 1923 building remains in stable condition and is a prime candidate for adaptive reuse. The redevelopment of the Sweat-Comings mill site will recapture some of the great downtown activity Richford enjoyed in its heyday while preserving an important reminder of this frontier town’s place in American industrial history.