New Cotton Mill Condos Overlook St. Lawrence River

Cornwall Ontario – Cotton Mill Cornwall has officially opened the doors to the second phase of their $60 million development in the Le Village District.

Residents have already moved into the Edison Building, which houses 32 new luxury condos that feature large brick windows overlooking the St. Lawrence River, with many of the heritage elements of the building in place. A number of businesses will also be taking up residence in the ground floor, including a pharmacy, café and medical offices.

A large number of community leaders and area residents attended an open house today to see the exciting transformation of the heritage waterfront property whose original lights were installed at one time by Thomas Edison himself.

“We are excited to present an inspired vision for healthy, urban living, unequalled in eastern Ontario,” said Robert Pelda, President of both Cotton Mill Cornwall and RMP Construction and Development Ltd.

“lf these walls could talk, what stories they would tell of the workers and their families dating back to the 1870s. We are only custodians of time. And we will be remembered for what we did in our community during our period of time.”

The Edison Building is the latest development of the historic Cotton Mill District, which began years ago with the redevelopment of the Weave Shed into professional office space. Much of the development of the area has been supported financially by the City of Cornwall’s Community Improvement Plans.

You can view an online gallery of images on the ChooseCornwall Facebook page.

“The Cotton Mill Cornwall redevelopment has become a reality due to the tremendous support we have received from the City of Cornwall,” said Mr. Pelda. “The municipal grants and tax programs make a project of this magnitude feasible, but more importantly, it allows us to make new homes affordable in the community. City council and staff need to share in the success of our development.”

Mr. Pelda and his team were inspired by the original industrial heritage architecture of the Canada Cotton Mill manufacturing buildings and warehouses.  As they restored the existing buildings to meet today’s safety codes, they have kept the same industrial design theme. The 3rd and 4th floor addition offers a modern contrast but yet compliments the same basic layout of the original building and many of the key architectural elements of the existing heritage building were repeated.

“Our team has worked hard to implement what you will see today,” said Mr. Pelda. “We started with a vision 4 years ago, to create an open campus that welcomes the entire city to share this rejuvenated waterfront. Today that has become reality.”

The Cotton Mill Cornwall buildings are designed to take maximum advantage of its location on the beautiful St. Lawrence River, and become part of the City’s system of waterfront trails and interconnecting parks.

The building also features an art gallery showcasing the work of local artist Pierre Giroux. Mr. Giroux has painted several scenes of Cornwall from decades gone by, and his art work hangs on the walls of the main lobby. On piece in particular, a large original painting of the Cotton Mill District around the era of 1930s is captivating.

“Pierre has done a fantastic job expressing what life was like on the waterfront at that time,” said Mr. Pelda. “We are lucky to have such an artist in our community.”

Mr. Pelda also took time to specifically thank the hundreds of local trades people who helped transform the property, as well as the team of financial institutions who helped fund it, noting that it was one of the most challenging projects he has completed in his 40+ years in business.

There are approximately 100 units in 2 buildings, the Edison and Cotton Mill Lofts, completed to date. Mr. Pelda will be adding another 55 units in a third building called Bell Tower starting in 2016 and 78 units in the Stephens Building as the final phase of the development.

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