Published: 8/6/2016 11:22:36 PM
Modified: 8/6/2016 11:22:36 PM
Claremont — The city has finalized the sale of the former Sawtooth building on Main Street to TwinState MakerSpaces, Planning and Development Director Nancy Merrill said Friday.The building was sold for the previously agreed upon nominal price of $18.42.
Merrill said there still remains a lot of work to do on the building, including the installation of a concrete floor and sub-slab venting system, but the sale represents another significant forward for the nonprofit.
The former mill building also has some contamination, the main reason the city essentially transferred ownership because MakerSpaces will be responsible for the remediation costs
Last October, TwinState MakerSpaces received a $250,000 grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission to help with the plans to renovate property. The nonprofit’s co-founder, Jeremy Katz, said the plan is to renovate the interior for studios, classroom space, and co-working space for people who have startup and project ideas.
The concept behind a MakerSpace is to create a shared space where everyone from hobbyists to entrepreneurs can have access to space and equipment they do not have the resources to obtain on their own.
“We are in the process of doing the full facility design with Studio Nexus Architects and gearing up for construction,” Katz said in a news release Friday.
“We are ready to move forward with renovation of this historic mill and being an active participant in the economic revitalization of Claremont.”
Company NewsCopeland Furniture is nearing completion of a 500kw solar array on a 3-acre parcel adjacent to its Bradford, Vt., factory. The array is expected to produce more than 800,000 kilowatt hours of power annually, or roughly two-thirds of the company’s annual electricity needs, the company said in a news release.
Based on figures provided by the EPA, the array will offset nearly 1 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
“This initiative is the next step in what is a long and continuing journey toward sustainability,” said Tim Copeland, founder and CEO of Copeland Furniture.
The company expects the new solar array to be operational by Aug. 15.
Items of interest to the local business community are published in the Business & Money section of the Sunday Valley News. Submissions may be sent by email to: biznotes@vnews.com (high-resolution photographs may be attached in .jpg format), or by mail to: People in Business, c/o Sunday Valley News, P.O. Box 877, White River Junction, Vt. 05001. (Photographs cannot be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope.) All items are subject to editing for clarity or space.