After public outcry, purchase of mill ruins OK’d

Council opens public access to Cotton Hollow preserves

GLASTONBURY — Following public outcry over possible destruction of 19th century mill ruins in the Cotton Hollow section, the Glastonbury town council has approved purchasing the property.

Theprice for the approximately one-acre Hartford Manufacturing site was$225,000, and the town expects to close the deal in early December, Town Manager Richard Johnson said Monday. The council at a recent meeting also voted to open Cotton Hollow and Great Pond preserves to public access, ending decades of residents-only rules.

The granite remains of the cotton mill beside Roaring Brook, a romantic image popular among artists, had sat untouched since a fire ravaged the building in the early 1900s. But in January, a newproperty owner started tearing down the walls.

The work was done without the proper permits andthe townhalted the demolition. Preservation advocates circulated a petition and launched a “Save Cotton Hollow Mill” Facebook page and @SAVETHEMILL account on Instagram.

Brian Chiffer, a South Glastonbury dentist and expert on the hive of industry that once occupied Cotton Hollow, said the council’s action saves a connection to Glastonbury’s storied manufacturing past.

“I’m very happy, the Historical Society of Glastonbury is happy andover 6,000 people who signed a petition are very happy about it,” Chiffer said Monday.

The granite mill, where workers made cotton cloth, was built in 1814, he said. The area of town came to be a village within the village of South Glastonbury, Chiffer said.

Johnson said the ruins will be fenced off so no one can venture too close. Also, informational plaques likely will be installed, he said.

Cotton Hollow public access: Answering the town’s request for a legal opinion on longstanding residents-only access to Cotton Hollow and Great Pond preserves, attorney Laurann Asklof found the restrictions likely wouldbefoundunconstitutional.

“As the town ordinances are written, it is difficult to mount an argument that the exclusion of non-residents serves a compelling state interest or that such exclusion is narrowly drawn to achieve that interest,” Asklof wrote.

The80-acre Cotton Hollow Preserve was the main focus because it’s a more popular destination, due largely to Roaring Brook and its shaded swimming areas.

People seeking recreation this summer— their destinations sharply narrowedbecause of coronavirus capacity limits at state parks — crowdedinto the small preserve andsome of them left a mess.

The town in late July briefly closed the preserve while staff addressed increased littering andbroken glass ontrails and in the water. But the crowds that streamed into the park earlier, many from out of town and out of state, also opened the larger question of access, prompting the council to seek the legal opinion on whether residents-only restrictions are enforceable, Johnson has said.