New owners turn old mill into profit

July 17, 2007

By LARRY SINGER
Index-Journal staff writer

Standing inside the main offices of the old Greenwood Cotton Mill, Jim Hicks and Garrison Hall examine the interior of one of the few buildings that will still be standing at the end of this year.
Outside the edifice, a team of workers is busy cleaning the mortar off piles of bricks and arranging tons of lumber into neat stacks.
The work of recycling the mill has been ongoing since Hicks and Hall acquired the mill in February.
“We made the decision to buy this mill around the first of the year,” Hicks said. “We were looking at purchasing another plant in Honea Path, but we ran into some road blocks and some obstacles over there with the city.”
The Honea Path project came to a screeching halt when local residents and politicians decided they really didn’t want their mill torn down.
“So we shifted gears and came over and made a purchase offer on this particular plant,” Hall said.
Hall is from Greenwood. Hicks is from Atlanta but lives in Greenwood now. Their company is called Timberworks, which buys old mills from the late 1800s when there was still old growth wood used in the construction.
“We deconstruct those mills, salvage the metal and sell the brick and the wood from those mills,” Hicks said. “Essentially, we deal in antique mill building products.”
Eventually, they will run out of mills to buy and reclaim, because of the difficulty in finding the buildings.
After buying the old Greenwood Cotton Mill, and the seven acres its on for about $300,000, their first chore was to start cleaning up the tons of debris and junk left behind.
“When a mill like this shuts down, they just walk away,” Hall said. “They rip out all their machinery and they take it to another job. Most of where the machinery from textile plants goes now is South America, Pakistan or another Third World country. That’s where all of our textiles come from now. So if the machinery is viable, every bit of it is shipped out of the country.”
And the amount of trash Hall and Hicks found in the mill was staggering.
“When a plant shuts down, they cannibalize all of their equipment and they leave a huge mess of trash,” Hall said. “So we’ve worked for months just cleaning up and hauling it off, plus handling the environmental concerns. We hauled out a little bit of everything.
“We’ve cleaned out insulation, metal, thousands of old cans that they used to put their raw material in and old furniture that’s not salable. They walked away and left everything, right down to the food wrappers sitting on their desks.”
Although the environmental problems, such as dealing with asbestos, were serious, it was just one more challenge to be overcome.
“We do asbestos abatement with a side company, and there was a quarter of a million dollars in asbestos abatement to be performed at this particular site,” Hall said.
Once the trash is cleared from each floor, Timberworks starts reclaiming the wood and bricks.
“There’s more than a million bricks in this facility and we hope to wind up with a million bricks when it’s done,” Hicks said. “When you push the walls out floor by floor, and they collapse, you’re going to lose 50 percent of your bricks because a lot of them break when they hit the ground. So you go through and reclaim what you can, and the rest you use as we use to fill the property back in so we can bring it up to grade.”
Recycling the wood, however, is presenting Hall and Hicks with much less of a problem.
“We are able to reclaim every single piece of wood, because the majority of the wood in a plant like this is hard pine, which is almost an instinct species of tree,” Hall said. “This is what’s called antique hard pine because it’s been in a building for over a hundred years.”
After the wood is removed from the building, it is cleaned and banded into bundles.
“When it’s ready, we’ll sell the wood to companies that manufacture flooring or furniture,” Hicks said. “When we’re done, we’ll haul out better than a million board feet of wood that goes anywhere from a dollar to $2.50 a board foot. The bricks will sell for about 30 cents each.”
Although they hope to realize a profit, Hall and Hicks discovered recycling the massive building is a lot like mining for gold.
“In addition to what we paid for the building, it takes an awful lot of money, machinery and labor, insurance, taxes and everything else to make a project like this run,” Hall said. “We figure roughly, and this is a conservative estimate, it will take a little longer than six months to clean and process everything.”
When the plant is leveled, Hall and Hicks have considered using the land for everything from apartments to a business park.
“We haven’t settled on any on firm idea on what the future holds for this property,” Hicks said, “but there will be some development here.”

New headmaster arrives at academy

July 17, 2007

By KENNY MAPLE
Index-Journal staff writer

It won’t be long before Lakelands-area schools reopen, and Cambridge Academy students will have a new headmaster to report to when that time comes.
Headmaster Donald Frazier arrived at the Greenwood school at 9:15 a.m. Monday.
His goal for the next few weeks — get to know as much as he can about the school, its students and its faculty.
“Most of the summer is already gone,” Frazier said. “The remaining approximately four weeks before school starts I will be learning as much as I can about Cambridge Academy, as much as I can about our students who we have and the families we have to get ready for next year. And, of course, to do anything I can do to recruit additional students and families into the school.” He paused.
“I have a lot of orientation to get done,” he said.
As he spoke about his responsibilities, his office phone rang. The man is already busy getting acquainted.
Frazier comes to Greenwood after a number of positions. He retired two years ago from a headmaster position at a school in Memphis, Tenn. Then, he took on a six-month interim headmaster position in Chicago. He calls Johns Island his home.
Frazier will work in Greenwood for up to two years.
“They needed an interim head and a lot of us headmasters, once we retire then we do interim headmastering as a second career,” he said. “I had heard and had known of Cambridge Academy for many years because I’ve been in private education for 43 years. So, I had heard a lot about Cambridge and it seemed like a good opportunity to come and spend a year or more.”
Frazier said his wife, Sally, will move to Greenwood with him. They are excited about the move and about Greenwood.
“Cambridge Academy has always enjoyed a very fine reputation in the independent school world. And so I really look forward to being a part of this and learning about Greenwood and enjoying Greenwood.”
Frazier takes the position after former headmaster Robert Steeley accepted the assistant principal position at Brewer Middle School.
Carie McClendon, the headmaster’s assistant, has been at the school for 36 years. She said she was very impressed with Frazier when he first visited in May.
“I was impressed with his vast experience and enthusiasm for independent education,” she said. She was pleased to find he had experience in lower grade levels since Cambridge recently became just a K4 through eighth-grade school. At the end of the 2006-07 school year, Cambridge closed its high school. It does, however, have three seniors who will graduate next year. They will have to take some classes at Cambridge, some at Piedmont Tech and some at Lander University.
Other Cambridge high schoolers had to transfer to public high schools such as Greenwood and Emerald or other private schools in other cities.
McClendon said the high school had low enrollment and financially it just wasn’t feasible to continue the upper grades.
She also was excited to work with Frazier.
“It’s good to know you’re getting someone with a good reputation for being supportive of school staff,” McClendon said.

Post 20 opens state playoffs with a victory

July 17, 2007

By MATT ANDERSON
Index-Journal sports writer

In the bottom of the sixth inning during Monday’s American Legion baseball playoff game, Post 20 turned a 3-2 deficit into a 5-2 lead without the benefit of a base hit. Greenwood then broke open its game against Chester with one big hit.
Post 20 won an 11-3 decision over Chester to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five, first-round series, scoring six runs in a decisive sixth inning, punctuated by Drew Willingham’s three-run home run.
After Chester scored two runs in the top of the inning to take a 2-1 advantage, Greenwood opened the bottom of the sixth with two hit batsmen and two walks to even the score at 2. After a Brandon Miller fielder’s choice gave Post 20 the lead, catcher Josh Lovvorn walked to give Greenwood a two-run lead.
Then came Willingham’s home run.
That was plenty enough run support for the Post 20 pitching staff.
Miller, the Greenwood starter, was very good early, allowing just two runs, one unearned, through the first six innings. Miller showed signs of tiring in the seventh, when he allowed four singles before being lifted for Brandon Dorn.
The Post 20 bullpen took it from there. Dorn recorded the final two outs of the seventh before Willingham finished the game with two strong innings.
Early on, Greenwood was unable to capitalize on chances with men on base.
Post 20 stranded seven runners through the first five innings against Chester starter Jay Guidry. Guidry was wild, walking five and hitting five Post 20 batters, but was able to work out of early jams.

Obituaries

Bessie Bussey

DONALDS — Bessie Bussey, 93, of Blakedale Road, died Monday, July 16, 2007 at Greenville Memorial Hospital.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Robinson-Walker Funeral Service, Ware Shoals.

Prenquavious Dayquan Childs

Prenquavious Dayquan Childs, three-week-old infant son of Aneeka Childs and Chris Durant, died July 13, 2007. The family is at the home of the mother at 228 Wheatfield Drive.
Also surviving are two brothers, Prentavious and Predorious Childs of the home; one sister, Preyana Childs of the home; maternal grandparents, Tony Childs and Janice Childs; maternal step-grandmother, Theresa Childs; paternal grandparents, Alfred and Christine Durant; maternal great-grandparents, Carrie Murray, Pressly Murray and Beatrice Childs; aunts, Quorleecia Childs and Angela Durant; and uncles, Tracy Gladney and Roderick Crosby.
Services were 11 a.m. Monday, July 16, 2007, at Evening Star Cemetery, with Pastor Martin officiating.

John W. McCalla Sr.

IVA — John W. McCalla, Sr., 79, of Iva, husband of Jean King McCalla, died Monday, July 16, 2007 at AnMed Health Medical Center in Anderson. He was born in Greenwood County to the late Mattox P. and Ella Nickels McCalla, Sr. Mr. McCalla was reared by his beloved aunt and uncle, the late John W. and Parniece Brown McCalla. He served in the United States Air Force and retired after 42 years as a truck driver with Mohawk, Industry in Calhoun Falls, SC. Mr. McCalla was an avid farmer, boater, racing fan, and truly loved spending time with his family and friends, as well as spending time on Lake Secession. He was a member Smyrna Methodist Church in Lowndesville, the Lake Secession Association, Mt. Carmel Yacht Club, co-owner of McCalla Auto Sales in Greenwood, and served on the Board of Directors of McGill Fire Station.
In addition to his parents and aunt and uncle, he was preceded in death by his brother James “Jim” Raymond McCalla.
Surviving Mr. McCalla is the love of his life for 47 years, his wife, Jean of the home; two sons, John W. McCalla, Jr. and his wife, Kelly and their two children, Carly and Caleb of Greenwood, SC; and Jimmy S. McCalla and his wife, Kelly and their three children, Morgan, Madison, and Ashlee of Charlotte, N.C.; a brother, Mattox “Mac” P. McCalla, Jr. of Iva, SC; two sisters, Ann M. Anderson of Indianapolis, IN, and Elvira M. Powers of Savannah, GA.; and many nieces and nephews.
The family will receive friends from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at Harris Funeral Home. Funeral services will be Wednesday, July 18, 2007 at noon in the funeral home chapel. Burial will follow in Melrose Cemetery.
The family is at the residence.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in memory of Mr. McCalla may be sent to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, 1247 Lake Murray Blvd., Irmo, SC 29063; Smyrna Methodist Church, 439 Main St., Lowndesville, SC; or to the First Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, 2107 Mt. Moriah Road, Greenwood, SC 29646.
Online condolences may be sent to the McCalla family by visiting www.harrisfuneral.com. Harris Funeral Home, of Abbeville is assisting the McCalla family.

Opinion

Cooperation on new park appears to be a no-show

July 17, 2007

One thing every South Carolina citizen and taxpayer deserves and has a right to is to have those elected to serve the public make every effort to work together for the benefit of everyone. It’s obvious these days that’s not always the case, what with the constant bickering, particular over partisan politics. Apparently that attitude spills over into other situations, too.
From all indications, cooperation is not uppermost in the minds of some involved as the current debate over a new park in town gets hotter. Statements by some appear to leave little doubt.
Who knows, though? There may be factors not publicized that could make things a little clearer and could enhance understanding.

HOWEVER, DISPUTES SEEM TO be the order of the day. Cooperation, from a public viewpoint, appeared to be missing as the CPW commissioners, Greenwood County and City of Greenwood officials recently “discussed” what to do with the old water plant property at the corner of Grace Street and the 72 By-Pass.
Much of the rhetoric thrown around in “discussions” on whether to use the property for a new park has given every indication that comprehensive cooperation for the benefit of the public is not even a factor. In fact, if anything it looks more conducive to hindering efforts than cooperating to move them ahead. In short, it appears somebody is trying very hard to construct barriers to a park instead of trying to facilitate efforts to create one.

IT MAY NOT BE THAT WAY, of course. Those involved, on all sides, no doubt want their public service records to reflect the hard work and concern they have. Still, perception sometimes paints a different picture.
Considering the level of public interest in creating a new park, it would seem the most judicious thing to do would be to do nothing until the public interest is explored comprehensively and cooperatively ..... at least not before the public ascertains in its collective mind that it has received the kind of service and respect it is due from every elected and employed public servant.
As it is, it’s not clear that has yet happened. There are too many concerned and, to say the least, highly agitated citizens sounding off to think otherwise.