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Rapidan Mill Enterprises Center

Rapidan Mill Enterprises Center Awakens

You won’t find a history of Rapidan Mill in this blog post. For that you’ll need to head across the river and find Alan Shotwell. The point of this is to let the public know that beginning over a decade ago, Robert and Kevin O’Brien had a dream to propel this iconic industrial structure into the 21st Century. A few years later we, with a host of friends and supporters, came along and joined in their efforts. ACP Staff moved our headquarters here in December and thanks to others that find the rebirth of Rapidan Mill exciting, we’re starting to pick up steam. In the years ahead we intend to honor the industrial heritage of the Mill looking to rebuild it for regenerative agricultural small and medium sized businesses.
We have renovated the old Mill office to be a temporary conference room (complete with Chestnut paneling) and constructed some small offices in what we are calling the Atrium.
The O’Briens added a second story to the Mill office storage area and now the building is getting a coat of paint and thanks to pro bono work by Charlottesville Architects Bushman Dreyfus and Landscape Architects Fred Phillips Consulting we will soon have future architectural renderings and a birds eye Master Plan.
We have a great commercial garage for some of our contracting equipment and also a new roof.
A bit of a change from when the O’Briens arrived a few years back.
Lots of folks are excited about the intersection of industry and climate resilience.
For centuries what was once known as Waugh’s Ford has seen the highest highs and lowest lows of human enterprise. For years the Mill sat vacant. A Charlottesville newspaper story a few years ago called for its destruction.
It was something in its prime. Rapidan Mill flour was delivered far and wide. What was that movie about going back to the future?

This blog provides information and commentary that may not represent the views of ACP’s Directors and Advisors