RIHousing will help preserve the state’s
second-oldest mill and create 65 new apartments, recently approving $9 million
in financing for Lippitt Mill Apartments in West Warwick was Listed on the
National Register of historic places, Lippitt Mill is currently vacant and
uninhabitable.
The $15.9 million project received $2.1
million in Rebuild RI tax credits and rebates from the Rhode Island Commerce
Corporation and will support 117 jobs.
Lippitt Mill was built in 1809 and has
withstood the turmoil of the Civil War and hundreds of New England winters to
evolve from a cotton mill, where workers toiled by candlelight, to a 21st
-century operation that dyed delicate laces for international commercial
clients. At the time of its closing in 2010, Lippitt Mill was the longest continually-operating
mill in the country and is believed to be one of the oldest timber-frame mill
buildings still standing.
