Date: Fri 26-Apr-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

P&Z-Sandy-Hook-Antiques-Center

Full Text:

with photo: P&Z Clears The Way For Antiques Center

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

Glenmill Corporation has received a change of zone for Rocky Glen Mill from

M-4 (Industrial) to SHDD (Sandy Hook Design District), allowing it to proceed

with plans for an antiques business in the old mill building along the

Pootatuck River.

Newtown Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) members April 18 unanimously

approved the change of zone for the 12-acre parcel at 75 Glen Road, the site

of Rocky Glen Mill which more commonly is known as Fabric Fire Hose. The

60,000-square-foot mill has been used as an office building in recent years.

Sandra Wright, a principal in Glenmill Corporation, explained that she and

Jane Apuzzo, will be partners in The Mill, a 7,000-square foot antiques shop

planned for Rocky Glen Mill which will sell antiques for the home and garden.

The Mill, which is planned to open June 1, will feature Americana dating from

1780 to 1880. Ms Wright and Ms Apuzzo will manage The Mill, which will bring

together the wares of 50 antiques dealers in two large rooms in vignettes and

showcases.

The mill, which was built in 1831, initially served as the Goodyear Rubber

Manufactory. The structure is listed in the Connecticut and US Registers of

Historic Places as a prime example of 19th-Century American industrial

architecture.

Besides folk art, The Mill will display 19th-Century American country

furniture in its original finish, Ms Wright said. Some 20th-Century pieces

also will be displayed. Paintings will be shown.

The merchandise to be displayed will be "original, classic, unique, fine

designs," Ms Wright said.

Besides fairly-priced, high quality antique furniture for the house and

garden, the business will sell collectibles such as porcelain, china and

stoneware, Ms Wright said.

In starting a group antiques shop at Rocky Glen Mill, Ms Wright and Ms Apuzzo

are seeking to establish a nationally-based antiques store. The business will

be computerized and listed on the Internet, Ms Wright noted.

The women are seeking to attract both wholesale and retail antiques buyers

from across the country to a New England antiques destination.

"We're hoping we can really make it an end destination," she said.

To complement the antiques showrooms, The Mill will house a cafe serving

breakfast and lunch. The cafe will be open to the public and will serve as an

in-house food service for office workers at Rocky Glen Mill. The Mill antiques

shop and the Rocky Glen Mill offices will have separate entrances and exits

served by separate driveways. The antiques center will be open seven days a

week.

Workmen this week renovated the interior spaces that will become The Mill. The

"group shop" concept allows antiques dealers to sell their pieces through the

agency of The Mill, instead of having to spend their days inside an antiques

store as salespeople.

So far, antiques dealers from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New

Hampshire, New York and New Jersey plan to show their merchandise at The Mill,

Ms Wright said. Most of the dealers who plan to display their antiques have

been in the antiques business for 20 to 25 years, she said.

"Our goal is to have everchanging merchandise," she said. The business will

offer a furniture refinishing service as well an interior design service.

Antiques sold will have warranties with provisions for cash refunds, Mrs

Wright said. Reproductions won't be sold, she added.

Ms Wright and Ms Apuzzo also are partners in Main Street Cellar Antiques, a

shop in downtown New Canaan.

The P&Z created the SHDD zone designation last summer to liberalize permitted

land uses in areas with that zoning. SHDD zones are "mixed-use" zones.

P&Z member Heidi Winslow said that granting Rocky Glen Mill the new zoning

designation is in keeping with the spirit of the town's plan of development.

She termed the antiques shop a practical use for an older building which will

also enhance the neighborhood.

P&Z Chairman Stephen Adams said P&Z members initially wanted to include the

mill in the first SHDD zone created last year. He termed creation of an

antiques store in the building "most appropriate."