Workers repair the roof and remove hazardous materials July 9 at Bates Mill No. 5 in Lewiston. The work is expected to be mostly finished by the end of the month. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — Crews removing asbestos and other contaminants and repairing the roof at Bates Mill No. 5 expect to be mostly finished by the end of the month.

City staff said the bulk of the project will be complete soon, while some of the drain attachment work may continue into August.

This week, the City Council signed off on using $1 million in grant funding toward the project that began this spring. The work is considered a necessary step if a redevelopment is to occur, but substantial work remains for the 350,000-square-foot mill.

Abatement contractor RC Group began removing asbestos and PCB-contaminated concrete in the former generating and transformer rooms in April, with the city spending what was left of a $500,000 federal Brownfields grant. PCBs are a group of artificial chemicals that were widely used in electrical equipment.

Staff said the $1 million that Lewiston received as part of a congressional earmark in 2022 will allow that mitigation work to continue by disposing of asbestos roofing material and reroofing the mill.

Nate Libby, assistant director of economic development, said the roof replacement is temporary, with an expected lifespan of five to 10 years.

Lincoln Jeffers, director of economic and community development, told the Sun Journal in April that the total remediation work required at the mill is estimated at $10 million. The initial price tag several years ago was in the $5 million range.

He said the city will need to either invest or secure additional funding, especially as its purchase and sale agreement with developer Tom Platz expires in 2026. The city entered into a “final” five-year option agreement with Platz in 2021.

For years, funding for the cleanup work has been included in the Capital Improvement Plan, but ultimately not funded in the city’s capital bond.

The city took over the building in 1992, and for decades there have been discussions on whether to redevelop or demolish the site. Despite debate, officials have continued to largely agree that a redevelopment is worth pursuing, especially as the rest of the Bates Mill complex has seen success.

Regardless of whether the mill is redeveloped or demolished, the environmental issues in the mill need to be mitigated.

An attempt to reach Platz was not returned by late Friday afternoon, but he told the Sun Journal recently that he’s continuing to follow leads for potential tenants. While nothing has been confirmed, he believes they are moving in the “right direction as far as identifying the right sector of businesses that might be interested.”

Reached Friday, Mayor Carl Sheline said he’s confident that Bates Mill No. 5 can still be redeveloped.

“We’ve had a lot of success taking our mill infrastructure and repurposing it into commercial and residential spaces and Bates Mill 5 will be no different,” he said. “I am grateful for this federal grant to stabilize the roof while plans continue to develop for this key piece of downtown architecture.”