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Stillwater Mill Complex
East Avenue and Harrisville Main Street
Harrisville, RI 02830
Plat 160 Lots 65, 80
Lot size: 4.41 acres
Zoning: Village Commercial
Prior Use: Textile Mill
Proposed Uses: Public library
47 Affordable private apartments
This project is a rare combination of historic preservation, economic development, environmental remediation, affordable housing, and civic commitment to the concepts of a sustainable community. Stillwater Mill was the heart of Harrisville until the 1960s, when it fell the way of many of the textile mills of the Blackstone River Valley. The Town of Burrillville Redevelopment Agency purchased the mill site, and found a partner in Woonsocket Neighborhood Development Corporation to rehabilitate the Clocktower building into forty-seven moderately-priced apartments. The new Jesse M. Smith Memorial Library will occupy a 2.5 acre portion of the Mill site adjacent to East Avenue.
Environmental remediation has been completed, and construction has been underway since September 2006 for the new library. The existing library is bursting at its seams. Since the State of Rhode Island Office of Library Service requires that the new library accommodate twenty years of growth, the new library will expand existing facilities from 8,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet. Read more about the new Jesse M. Smith Library at the library link on this page, or at www.jmslibrary@yahoo.com for construction progress blogs.
View from East Avenue along Clear River (2006). Same view while Jesse M. Smith Library is being built.
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