Commission approves development at old mill site

**James** · #1 (**permalink**) 03-20-2007, 09:53 AM

Developers planning to put 434 town houses and condominiums on Wilmington's Brandywine Creek are getting a nod of approval from the city's Design Review and Preservation Commission.

The panel voted 4-to-2 in favor of the proposal last night, despite objections from area residents that the project is too big.

The homes are planned for the former Bancroft Mills site and the development will require the demolition of most of the mill buildings, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The approval, however, is contingent upon a review of the demolition plan by city inspectors and the Planning Commission's approval of a subdivision plan.

Information from: The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

Wolf · #2 (**permalink**) 03-20-2007, 10:56 AM

Bancroft Mills
Bancroft Mills is an abandoned mill complex along the Brandywine River in Wilmington, Delaware. It has been the site of some of the earliest and most famous mills from Wilmington and was the largest and longest running complex along the Brandywine. Gilpin Mills was opened in 1787 and was the first paper mill in Delaware. This was followed by Riddle Mills (1845), and Bancroft Mills, which was opened in 1831 and had an 1895 expansion. In 1930 Bancroft Mills was the single largest cotton finishing works in the world. Buildings from all three eras exist today.

The complex was most recently owned by Wilmington Piece Dye company which went bankrupt in May of 2003. (Work stopped during April of 2003, before the company went bankrupt.)

The complex is being demolished to make way for condominiums.