Finally, it looks like renovation of Prattville’s historic gin shop will begin – Montgomery Advertiser

LEDIC plans on building 146 apartments using the five historic masonry structures that make up the gin shop. The project takes up about 15 acres of the site. LEDIC is calling the property The Mill. The inset on this illustration shows a view from the water.(Photo: Staff Illustration)

PRATTVILLE The gin shop buildings tower over downtown physically and psychologically, and arethe reason Prattville exists.

Those buildings have always been there, said Paula Martin, on a recent afternoon watching her grandchildren scamper around the Heritage Park Fountain. The park, at Main and Court streets, offers chamber of commerce views of the buildings. I was born and raised here. Both my grandfathers worked at the gin shop. I cant imagine Prattville without the gin shop.

Daniel Pratt founded the city that bears his name in 1839. But even before then work was going on. Pratt picked the fall line of Autauga Creek to power his industrial empire. He started making cotton gins, then he built a spinning plant. Soon a sash and door mill was humming, along with a foundry and lumber yard. Pratt, born in Temple, N.H., had built sprawling manufacturing complex in the Deep South.

Fast-forward 181 years to today and those historic buildings are Prattvilles iconic landmark. Generations of families worked there when Prattville was a sleepy little farm town.

In the past several decades the buildings fell intodisrepair after manufacturing stopped there in 2008 as the work went overseas. Continental Eagle, the company that has its roots in Pratts gin shop, closed the buildings in 2011.

What would happen to the structures concerned local history buffs and residents alike.

An artist's rendering shows the outside layout of future gin shop apartments.(Photo: Contributed)

The gin shop has a new life on the horizon, thanks to preservationists and good old American capitalism. A $37 million project will rehab the five historic masonry structures to make way for 145 loft style apartments.

Phase I of The Millproject is scheduled to begin by Sept. 30, and willaddress the site being in a floodway with the construction of a levee, site cleanupand weatherizing the existing buildings for added protection during the construction phases. Weather permitting, Phase I should take about six months, and construction of the apartments will immediately follow.

"The site plans for The Millhave not changed since we started this project, and is still slated to be 145 high-end apartment units that reflect the site's history, said said Kea Calame, senior vice president of Envolve Communities, said in an earlier interview. Envolve was formerly LEDIC Realty. As stated in the beginning, there is no retail space in our plans, as we firmly believe this project should be an extension of downtown that encourages residents to shop and visit the already established retailers."

The Historic Prattville Redevelopment Authority bought the complex for about $1.7 million on Dec. 18, 2014, in a mortgage foreclosure sale on the grounds of the Autauga County Courthouse. A crowd of about 250 broke into applause and cheers as the sale was closed.

Imagine that, cheers at a mortgage sale. But this is Prattville, and they love their history.

HPRA saved the gin shop! then-Sheriff Herbie Johnson shouted from atop the steps. Johnson is a child of the gin shop. His father Woodrow worked there, and he spent some time on the floor as well running the machines.

No one could have guessed then that it would take six years to get any type of project at the site off the ground. Other companies looked, but Envolve made the decision and investment.

The view of the dam from the old Daniel Pratt Gin Shop in Prattville, Ala., on Thursday August 31, 2017.(Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)

There was sea of red tape to negotiate from state and federal alphabet soup agencies. There were tax credits to acquire, and then re-acquire due to delays beyond the control of all participants.

The delays have led to a feeling among some residents of resignation.

"Every year or so we here the work is going to start, the work is going to start, Ronnie Tolliver, another Prattville native said. And every year, nothing. No movement over across the creek. I hope this is the real thing, but Ill believe it when I see it.

Materials have been delivered to the site to cover the crumbling roofs of the buildings, think massive rolls of very thick plastic garbage bag material.

Mayor Bill Gillespie Jr. understands the show me perception among some.

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Im like everybody else, I want to see work done on the site, he said. That work will be starting soon. Im very excited for what the future holds.

Officials expect the apartments to be a shot in the arm for an already thriving downtown. Several businesses moved into buildings downtown years ago when news of the apartments first surfaced.

I think you are going to see an economic boom downtown once the apartments are completed and people move in, Gillespie said. Those buildings are the reason we are here. Its going to be great to have them contributing to the life and economy of Prattville once again.

Trees grow on the eaves of the old Prattville gin shop in Prattville, Ala., on Wednesday August 19, 2020. (Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)

The gin shop has served as a backdrop for Prattville events. The tract covers about 40 acres, including the mill pond and dam. But its the view from Court Street thats the go to shot. From there you can see most of the buildings and the mill pond dam.

It has served as a setting for countless prom shots and senior portraits. Wedding and engagement photo sessions are common. Theres not a local politician who hasnt used that scene in campaign literature.

Each one of the buildings is unique,Calamesaid in an earlier interview. There really is nothing else like this out there. No two apartments will really be the same. We are going to incorporate the original design and construction methods of each building in our repurposing effort.

Trees grow on the eaves of the old Prattville gin shop in Prattville, Ala., on Wednesday August 19, 2020. (Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)

That means windows galore, exposed brick walls, and spotlighting the massive beams and columns that support the buildings. The apartments will be of an open design, to make the best use of those features, she said.

The most prominent building visiblefrom the park or Court Street view is the one just across the creek, where Pratt had a corner office. Up there on the roof you cant miss it, a pine tree grows from the gutter three stories up. The tree seems both out of place and at home at the same time.

I hope they can save the tree, said Matt King. Ive gotten used to it being there. I dont know, its a tough tree, growing up there like that.

The old Daniel Pratt Gin Shop in Prattville, Ala., on Thursday August 31, 2017, is shown with an artists rendering of renovations planned for it.(Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)

The tree has become a symbol of the effort to save the gin shop, said Tom Newton, chairman of HPRA.

We are going to do our best to save that tree and replant it in a place of honor on the property, Newton said. Any time when we had a set back, a delay in this project, I thought about that tree. How it has grown, how it held on. Its a tree in a gutter, man. It deserves to be saved.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

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Finally, it looks like renovation of Prattville's historic gin shop will begin - Montgomery Advertiser