New owners plan building renovations

Hope to turn Sangerville into must-see destination

SANGERVILLE — Things are not always as they appear. That becomes obvious upon stepping into the old industrial brick building in Sangerville constructed right on the main drag. The existing building was part of Sangerville Woolen Co., then the Glencoe No. 1 boiler room and main shop.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE SMOKESTACK — Over the decades the mill building in Sangerville has been the home of the Sangerville Woolen Co., Glencoe No 1, Dover Stove and more. New owners Clint and Lori Rohdin have plans for the structure to house motel rooms, a restaurant, a used car equipment business and possibly an event center.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

BIG PLANS FOR THE NEW OWNERS — Clint and Lori Rohdin recently became the owners of the large brick mill building on Route 23 in Sangerville. The Rohdins plan to repurpose the building into a motel, restaurant and used car and equipment business, helping to make downtown Sangerville into a destination. Clint and Lori are pictured in the new office located in the corner of the building under the chimney.

New owners Clint and Lori Rohdin have studied the history of the building but not everything is known prior to 1940. Manley Haley brilliantly preserved the structure by putting peaked trusses over the flat roofs in the early 1970s. Charlie MacArthur saw the potential in the early 1980s as he bought the Dover Stove business and the waterfall out back and spoke of somehow turning it into a massive refrigeration facility cooled exclusively by the waterfall. The neighborhood kids did their part to keep the building ventilated by smashing the windows.

The building seen now is the small part that contained the boiler room and maintenance shop. The actual mill was much larger, covering the whole parking lot and extending out over the stream. The original dam and mill were built shortly after the Civil War as the Sangerville Woolen Co. and then Glencoe No 1.

The wooden building burned down around 1898 and was rebuilt soon after. The dam was built to help maintain water levels year-round soon after the rebuild.

Many of the names involved in the building and owning of the mill are very familiar today — Campbell, Carr and Ames to name a few. Dick Hall’s daughters remember their father putting in long days raising chickens in the 1950s in the large wooden structure that was torn down right after 1970 leaving the smaller brick building which has housed Haley’s shop, the Sangerville municipal garage, Dover Stove and lastly a giant toy box for the late MacArthur.

Clint Rohdin had worked on the building for MacArthur for years and always admired it but never imagined he and and his wife could afford it. MacArthur left an overwhelming amount of items and properties, most needing some attention.

MacArthur’s estate hired Moors Landscaping to clean the mill and the building began to reveal itself as structural and spacious inside and out. With a lot of luck and some grace from MacArthur’s family and Bob Kimball, the Rohdins found themselves in a lawyer’s office in December signing papers on the old mill.

Still having no idea what they would do, their answer to the question “What are you going to do?” was the same for the first three months, “We are going to clean it.” Many large truckloads and two blown up Shop-Vacs later they pressure washed from the top down inside and out. The wood, brick and steel structure, clear of pigeon residue, trash, welding dust and cobwebs, showed itself as a solid scenic treasure. Lori Rohdin replaced and glazed close to 100 panes of glass and spent two weeks just pulling out materials that filled the cracks in the third floor.

The two have big plans. Seeing the constant stream of out-of-state plates on bikes, campers, boats, trailers laden with ATVs and snowmobiles that drive swiftly through Sangerville with drivers’ sights set on distant destinations, they never before realized the huge potential just off the beaten path in town.

The only reason traffic is rolling through is nobody has made a place for passers-by to stop. Clint and Lori Rohdin intend to change that and make a dollar in the process. The trick will be bringing money in from outside and keeping the inside accessible and usable to the people who have lived in the shadow of the stack all these years.

In order to be present at the mill Clint Rohdin decided to get off the roofs before he falls off and find some way to be present at the mill and make money. The Rohdins decided to put a new office in the corner under the chimney and get a used car and equipment license.

With these tasks accomplished they are renovating another corner of the building overlooking the waterfall and 15-plus acre pond outback into a small restaurant in hopes of leasing it to an entrepreneur.

The second floor has no set plan but Lori Rohdin has talked about converting the space into an event center.

Their older daughter Nina Rohdin has been taking senior pictures, and younger daughter Cassidy Rohdin has spent her summer helping, fishing off the dam and riding her bicycle inside the mill.

The upper floor has space for five motel rooms so the Rohdins are working with code enforcement to see what they need to do to make that happen. Motorcyclists could be able to park, eat and sleep in the waterfront building.

Clint and Lori Rohdin have been amazed at the availability of the Sangerville town office staff, the selectmen and water department who have all been over offering help and encouragement.

The Rohdins hosted a film crew from Hollywood at their house for two years. The crew was from all over the country and two crew members were from Europe and they all wanted to explore this area, giving Clint Rohdin different eyes for the quiet town with so many acres of flat water so quiet someone can hear the worms behind the pine bark and actually hear the corn growing. Most who live here miss this.

Sitting under a huge maple tree by the water in the mottled sunlight with the slight breeze softly rattling the leaves on the water’s edge, Rohdin looked up from his sandwich and saw the whole crew just sitting there marveling at the sights and sounds and realized paradise is where you find it. For the first time he saw what his parents were thinking when they uprooted the family from a bustling town in Massachusetts in 1970 and settled in Sangerville.

Now Rohdin has brought out all his junk projects from the backyard to sell the pieces so he and Lori Rohdin can focus their efforts into the mill as one big project.

They feel so lucky and say they still have to pinch themselves but this is real. The Rohdins do own a beautiful building with huge potential and they are in a paradise surrounded by great friends who are all asking how they can help.

Clint and Lori Rohdin know there will be hurdles and trials but with so many people offering assistance the problems keep melting away. They feel Sangerville has it all and the community’s downtown is about to be a destination instead of an intersection, a place to stop instead of just putting on the blinker and touching the brake.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

UNDER CONSTRUCTION — The upper floor has space for five motel rooms and owners Clint and Lori Rohdin are working to make the space available for motorcyclists to be able to park, eat and sleep in the waterfront building.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

VIEW FROM THE PATIO — A look downstream near a corner of the building being renovated into a small restaurant.