Demolition Begins at Former Paper Mill

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LYONS FALLS, N.Y. -- After a lot of hard work, a paper mill that sat empty for nearly 15 years, may finally be on the way toward redevelopment.

"It was just the backbone of the community, there wasn't much else. Everybody in town that didn't have a business probably worked in the mill," said Lyons Falls native Roy Hammecker.

The Lyons Falls Paper Mill was one of Lewis County's largest employers during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Nearly 300 people were employed there. So when the mill closed in 2000, the area was devastated.

"It hit everyone's pocket book and it hit everyone's heart I think," Hammecker said.

"The people in the village, their spirit just plummeted and I didn't think it would ever come back up again because so many other paper mills are shutting down," said Lyons Falls Mayor Katie Liendecker.

By 2008, village, county and regional leaders were tired of seeing a site with so much potential continue to crumble away. The Lewis County Development Corporation started to put together a redevelopment plan and as of Tuesday, that plan was finally put into action.

"It's a very complicated process and it involves a lot of partners, both with supporting the project, engineering it, and also funding it. So it's taken us a while," said Larry Dolhof, president of the Lewis County Development Corporation.

Demolition is the first step toward redeveloping the more than nine-acre site. In phase one, most of the buildings on the property will be taken down in order to make room to expand Kruger Energy's hydro-electric facility.

Project leaders said it will take years to complete the demolition and clean up the site, but village residents are already brainstorming ways to redevelop the property.

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Demolition Begins at Former Paper Mill