The Revitalist

Sad news for the City of Holyoke as one of the city's earliest paper mills smolders after a devastating 9-alarm fire. The Parsons Paper Co. on Sargeant Street, a 300,000 sf mill which takes up three city blocks, was abandoned in 2005 with $1.8 million in back taxes on the books- Sunday night it erupted in flames for reasons yet unknown. In a city with an amazing core of historic fabric but with a struggling economy, this is a major loss on many levels. What is interesting and even more sad is that we recently became aware of an advocate who had some creative ideas of how to put the Parson Paper Co. Mill back into service. We hope that this loss will serve to inspire more intensity in preservation and re-development efforts for the remaining historic building stock in Holyoke.