Three thousand pieces of the equipment at the former Madison Paper Co. mill will be sold in an online auction next month. The mill closed last May, putting 214 people out of work.
The mill, and everything in it, have since been purchased by an investment group that includes New Mill Capital Holdings.
Eric Weiler, with New Mill Capital, says selling the equipment is part of a process that the company hopes will end with a new use for the building.
“You try to work to put someone back in the real estate that will bring jobs back, and obviously be part of the community,” he says.
To do that, Weiler says, it’s best to have a “clean slate” for potential buyers.
“People that are looking for a space that has heavy power like this, good utilities, plenty of space to work with. And before we can really get too far into it, we have to run the entire trap of selling the equipment and getting the clean slate so people can look at it for what it is, and not a paper mill,” he says.
Weiler says although you never say never, it’s unlikely the plant would be used for paper.
