Cable Mills Historic Site

Offshoots developed a native planting plan, restoration planting and phytoremediation installation for the adaptive reuse of the former Water Street Mill, now known as Cable Mills. This industrial reuse project is now entering its fifth era, this time as a residential complex, 233 years after it was built. The renovations include river bank restoration, a public river walk, phytoremediation, and a new outdoor living room for residents with a fire pit and grilling amenities.  The plantings are designed with plants only native to the East Coast and Appalachian Mountains, creating an insertion to improve the local ecology. To learn more about the site sustainability goals for the project, visit the Cable Mills website here.

The restoration of this former disturbed industrial site includes:

• Site inventory of existing native plants, including field visits to nearby undisturbed sites for plant inventories, including Mount Greylock
• Removal of invasive species
• Installation of native riparian herbaceous, shrub and tree species
• Aspen groves to remediate petroleum impacts

In 2020, the Cable Mills design team returned to the site to further develop the Cable Mills master plan via the Cable Mills Modern Mill and River House project, for which the team received a BSA Award! Read about the other chapter of this ongoing project here.