Madison Mill Redevelopment Aims to Boost Tourism
Developers behind the revitalization of a more than 130-year-old building in Madison say the project will be a boon for tourism in the city. Riverton LLC announced in January plans to invest $21 million to redevelop the Eagle Cotton Mill into an 80-room boutique hotel and conference center. The former mill has been vacant since the 1980s and Andrew Forrester, director of community relations for the city of Madison, says the project is something the community has wanted since the building closed.
In an interview on Inside INdiana Business, Forrester said the building’s location on the city’s riverfront creates a perfect opportunity for a hotel and conference center.
"We have over 350,000 visitors each year to Madison, which is really large for a community our size," said Forrester. "But the great thing about the tourism industry is that it helps support our mom-and-pop restaurants and businesses on Main Street to help keep that vibrant."
Madison was one of the recipients of the Stellar Communities designation in 2017. While the Eagle Cotton Mill project is not receiving any funding from that designation, Forrester says the effort would not be possible without it.
"The Stellar Communities designation really helped propel this project really to the top of the list. As we were putting together our comprehensive plan, as we were putting together all of the community engagement that Stellar requires, that really helped our community focus on what it wanted and this project rose to the top."
Forrester adds the project will be a "shot in the arm" for the city.