Xerxes Wilson

The News Journal

Dew Point Brewing Co. opened last week in the historic Garrett Snuff Mill in Yorklyn.

The nearby Red Clay Creek has been the source for serious flooding.

For 105 years, NVF processed zinc, acid and other toxic materials.

The clinking of beer glasses in Yorklyn marks what state planners and developers hope is a new chapter in the recreational transformation of the area.



Dew Point Brewing Co., which opened last week in the historic Garrett Snuff Mill, is an example of the type of leisure-related business that state officials hope will one day populate the National Vulcanized Fibre property a stone's throw across Red Clay Creek.



"I point to Dew Point as the sort of thing as we want to have there," said Environmental Program Administrator Matt Chesser, with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. "They have remodeled a historic building. It has a nice feel that fits that area perfectly."

The state has invested about $10 million in an ongoing redevelopment of the historic NVF mill complex along Route 82 and Yorklyn Road. That money includes land acquisition, environmental cleanup as well as the development of trails, roads and utilities nearby.

For 105 years, the facility processed zinc, acid and other toxic materials to make specialty papers and gaskets. The factory closed in 2009, a year after NVF declared bankruptcy, and state officials and private developers joined to salvage the 112-acre plant, targeting it for an ambitious transformation into a destination for leisure dining and shopping anchored by residential development. Overgrown weeds and grass now block the path to many of the remaining, run-down factory buildings. Inside, beer bottles and graffiti sit alongside the original wood frames and wide windows that give the buildings salvageable character.







Momentum at the NVF site is spurring new life at the Garrett Snuff Mill, a collection of red-brick, 19th-century buildings just across the Red Clay Creek. The mill ceased operations in the '50s, and has sat underused for years.



Owner and local developer Dan Lickle said work going on at NVF has prompted him to begin renovations of the 12-acre property in hopes of leasing the buildings.



"I’ve got to finish them off one way or another," Lickle said. "You just can’t have them in the center of the other development out there. It would be an eyesore completely."



Lickle said he is renovating two of the buildings on the property, with eyes for more work in the coming year. He said he'll recruit businesses that fit with the vision of the state's plan for NVF. That includes things like Dew Point, a family-owned microbrewery which leases the former mechanics quarters of the snuff mill from Lickle.

Lickle is also eyeing one portion of the historic mill for condos.



"The businesses will be complementary to the overall project," Lickle said.

While the future businesses and residents of NVF is a catalyst for Lickle's work at the snuff mill, he is hoping flood-prevention features at the fibre mill will make his property more attractive to future tenants.



Through the last century, the nearby Red Clay Creek has been the source of serious flooding. Chesser said at times, the river has spilled over putting more than 10 feet of water on some parts of the NVF property.



Lickle previously kept his offices in the snuff mill until a flood in 2003 wrecked the area.



"When I got flooded out I got discouraged and worried about future floods," Lickle said. "Now since NVF is being renovated and there will be a little more flood control, I got my nerve back and started renovation."

STORY: Planned Yorklyn microbrew targets August opening

STORY: Toxic former NVF site, soon to be redeveloped

Today, demolition on the NVF site is mostly done, with what is left of the facility sitting mostly vacant. Work is soon to begin on one of the site's primary floodwater control features.

Chesser said the state recently solicited bids for that work which will include digging out soil contaminated with zinc where the plant used to sit.

"Rather than just filling it in, we are converting it to a wetland area that will clean up from a water quality standpoint and do water storage during a flood event," Chesser said.



Chesser said this is one of the last steps before the state's developer partners begin stabilizing the remaining buildings and formalizing plans for businesses that will call the site home.



"By summer 2017, we should have things in full swing," Chesser said. "It is really going to start to feel like what they final plan envisioned."



The master plan goals are lofty. Chesser said his department is working with the Delaware Department of Transportation on a regional vision that one day will create pedestrian and bicycle paths tying the site to Hockessin; Kennett Square, Pennsylvania; and, eventually, Newark. The state is also planning to build an amphitheater on the hill overlooking the site by midway through next year.





"The fewer cars people need to come have fun and access this place, the better," Chesser said.



Exactly what mix and density of businesses and homes that will occupy the property is still being planned. Chesser said a working group of state officials and developers meet every two weeks as the project continues to develop.



Preliminary plans call for a destination restaurant created designed Restaurateur Dan Butler, owner of Toscana and Tonic in Wilmington and Brandywine Prime in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, as well as coffee shops and restaurants. Plans also call for things like a coffee shop and other retail businesses. There is also consideration of overnight accommodations on the site, something like a boutique hotel or bed and breakfast, Chesser said.

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"We want it to keep the same character and scale of the site," Chesser said. "We want it to feel like you are going somewhere that has a nice aesthetic, feels old and organic, not like a strip mall."



Key to those businesses thriving will be some sort of residential component on the property, said Drake Cattermole, principal of the Tresib Group, which owns multiple parcels within the masterplan for the site.

Cattermole said his plans for the area are still being developed, but will include both high-end residential as well as retail commercial.



"I love the feel of the project," Cattermole said. "It has the charm and the history behind it."



Though plans are still in the works, he said, he hopes to see construction start on his portion next year. Chesser said the ultimate goal is to bring back some of the village feel that existed in Yorklyn when thousands of workers came in and out of the snuff mill and NVF each day.

John Hoffman, one of the minds behind Dew Point Brewery, said his business was going to locate in the snuff mill regardless of NVF's redevelopment because microbrews need industrial zoning. With that said, he thinks the combination of NVF and new life in the snuff mill will create something special.



"It will be good for us to have a neighborhood feeling out here," Hoffman said as patrons streamed into Dew Point to drink from the business' first batches. "I can imagine people walking here and back and that is going to be nice for the area.

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.