"Any tangible forward progress would be just so welcomed by anybody. We should rent some scaffolding and put it up in front of a building and get people talking like, 'Whoa, they're doing something.'"
That was a member of the Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill Advisory Committee, as quoted in the Redding Sentinel's September 17 issue. The remark was half a joke. It also described Georgetown well. On October 15, more than 20 businesses and organizations around the village stayed open into the evening. At the mill, fencing now keeps people out of one of its own buildings.
The village around the mill is already running the way the town's plan for the mill imagines. The mill's own next chapter is coming in small pieces: a roof bid, a $200,000 grant application, a structural engineer, and a year-long study of the Norwalk River.
A Village That Already Keeps Evening Hours
On October 15, Georgetown Village Restoration held its first Georgetown After Dark, running from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. According to Weston Today, it brought together shopping, dining, and live music, and participating businesses gave part of the night's sales to the Georgetown Main Street Food Pantry. Bingo cards went to anyone who stopped at participating businesses, and the cards were dropped off at tables at Milestone and The Georgetown Owl by 8:00.
Among the participants were:
- Food and drink: The Georgetown Owl Market and Saloon, Quartertone Coffee, Lombardi's Trattoria, Wiremill BBQ, Kermit Bake Shop, Uncle Leo's, Uncorked, Casa Rosetti, Wild Blueberry
- Gathering spots and culture: The Given Inn, The Granite, Wiremill Academy at The Granite, Georgetown Arts, Milestone, The Shops at Auburn Landing
- Wellness and services: Yoga Station & Wellness, TBP Fitness & Wellness, Presence Massage & Wellness, Love + Light Salon, Annmarie Skin Care, The Lifted Face, Flanagan Family Dentistry, Georgetown Veterinary Hospital, STEM + CO
"It's a simple way to have a great night out and do some good at the same time," Georgetown Village Restoration President Nic Palazzo told Weston Today.
The two newest anchors on the list have defined Georgetown's daytime. The Georgetown Owl opened at 19 Main Street in March 2025, run by co-owners Kate Perry and Gerry Valenti, with a market on one side of the building and a restaurant on the other, according to the News-Times. The market side is home to Quartertone Coffee's bar. CT Bites reported that it is the roaster's first brick-and-mortar shop, owned by Bob and Will Ponturo. The market and café serve breakfast and lunch seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The saloon opens for dinner at 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
Also in historic Georgetown, The Given Inn at 4 Old Mill Road calls itself a floral café and vinyl room. It pairs specialty coffee with flowers, gifts, and a record collection. Its house blend uses Brazilian and Haitian beans roasted in Connecticut, and the café describes itself as a "third space" with a year-round calendar of community events.
All of this activity sits beside the 44 town-owned acres of the mill, which closed in 1989.
Why the Center of the Village Sat Still
The Town of Redding's Wire Mill page lays out the history. The site is one of the last intact mill complexes in Connecticut and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
| Year | What happened at the mill |
|---|---|
| 1848 | Gilbert & Bennett Manufacturing Co. begins operating in Georgetown |
| 1989 | The company declares bankruptcy and the mill closes |
| 2005 | Redding Zoning approves a master plan for a mixed-use village |
| 2008 | The financial crash stalls the redevelopment |
| 2015 | The town files for foreclosure |
| 2020 | The Connecticut Supreme Court rules for the town on September 21 |
| 2021 | The town takes title in February |
Since then, the town says it has won $2.6 million in competitive state and federal grants for planning, environmental assessment, and remediation. The largest is a $1,991,000 EPA Brownfield Cleanup Grant awarded in May 2024. The same page explains why grant money alone doesn't start construction. Before development can begin, the river walls need improvements to take the property out of the flood zone, and the state Department of Transportation requires improvements at the Route 7 intersection. The page puts the cost of that work at around $7 million.
The $2.6 million already raised and the roughly $7 million still needed explain why the mill moves slowly. The village around it has no such barrier.
What the Plan Imagines
This summer, Pirie Associates delivered its final Revitalize Georgetown plan to the Board of Selectmen after more than a year of research and public feedback, the Redding Sentinel reported on August 6. The plan describes "a welcoming and thriving regional arts and culture destination" with a mixed-use village identity. Its proposed program includes:
| Element | Proposed in the plan |
|---|---|
| Housing units | 410 |
| Parking spaces | 938 |
| Commercial space | 107,400 square feet |
| Public amenities | 25 acres |
The Work Underway This Fall
The minutes of the advisory committee's September 10 meeting, posted by the town on September 30, list the current tasks:
- Safety first. Fencing now surrounds the Saw Tooth building, which the minutes describe as unsafe.
- The Weaving Building roof. The town's request for proposals drew responses, but the scope and cost of the bids varied so widely that the chair said they need to be leveled before anyone can compare them.
- A structural engineer. The Building Stabilization Report went to the Board of Selectmen with a recommendation to hire one.
- A new state grant. First Selectwoman Julia Pemberton applied to the state Department of Economic and Community Development for $200,000. The money would prepare remediation, structural stabilization, and abatement scope documents for the mill center, which the minutes call a needed precursor to cleanup.
Funding is the next hurdle. Committee members talked about getting mill projects onto the town's long-term capital plan, a 10-year schedule where the mill competes with needs like bridge replacements. One member said a project has to be on the list even in years it doesn't get funded. According to the Sentinel, the committee planned to target this fall's capital planning cycle and request money for stabilization and marketing. Members called stabilization of the Weaving Building and its roof a top priority, warning that the structures could deteriorate beyond repair if the work waits.
This is where the mill and the village start to meet. In the same September meeting, members pointed to The Granite's social media as a model for keeping the public informed. They also noted that Georgetown Village Restoration had asked whether its planned evening event could include a tour of the mill site. The village's businesses have become the committee's example of how to get people interested.
The River Holds One of the Answers
A separate study could change what the plan keeps. Trout Unlimited and SLR Consulting have started a one-year study of whether to remove the dam on the mill property and restore the Norwalk River's flow, the Sentinel reported August 20. The study is looking at upstream effects, including flooding toward Ridgefield and the Metro-North railroad bridge.
"They're going to be doing a lot of studying of how the removal of our dam will impact upriver," Pemberton said at the committee's August 13 meeting, as quoted by the Sentinel. "And that will influence what our project is."
The stakes are concrete. The Pirie plan calls for saving a historic ruin at the site, a building with a remaining wall and dam infrastructure, and there was concern that keeping it may not be feasible if the dam comes out. Early sampling found contaminants above criteria in the factory pond sediment. The source was petroleum byproducts from road runoff, not heavy metals from the mill. That sediment will eventually have to be trucked out, though no one has yet estimated how much. Pemberton said she plans to meet with the study team monthly and asked about building a dedicated public webpage for updates.
Where to Follow the Next Step
The agenda for the Board of Selectmen's October 19 meeting did not list the Revitalize Georgetown plan or a Wire Mill capital request. The board's next regular meeting is Monday, November 16, at 7:00 p.m. The advisory committee meets monthly, and its meetings are open to the public. Its agendas and minutes are posted on the town's Wire Mill page, and that page is the best place to watch for news on the roof bids, the state grant decision, and the dam study.
Until then, the village's daily routine runs on its own schedule. The Owl's market and café open at 8 a.m. every day.
Georgetown is one of our favorite places to talk about, because the village keeps changing even while its center stays fenced. If you have questions about what the Wire Mill's next phase could mean for your corner of Redding, Connie Widmann & Team would be glad to talk it through with you. Contact Us.
