The Town of Montague is navigating significant cost and engineering challenges in its plan to demolish the former Strathmore mill complex at 20 Canal Road. The town has engaged the engineering firm Tighe & Bond to develop alternative demolition designs, after initial estimates showed that full demolition—particularly for the structures surrounding the privately-owned Building 9—would exhaust the $10 million allocated to the project. These alternatives are intended to identify more cost-feasible approaches, such as demolishing many of the outlying buildings while stabilizing, rather than removing, some of the buildings that directly border Building 9.
While the Town had earlier hoped for demolition to begin in summer 2025, that schedule has been delayed; Spring 2026 is the more realistic target given the complexity of scope and funding.
The pedestrian footbridge that connects Canal Street to the Strathmore Mill complex is now the immediate focus. Because it contains asbestos, an abatement project has been initiated.
The footbridge project is a precursor to the broader demolition work. Removing the footbridge and abating its asbestos are necessary steps before much of the rest of the Strathmore complex can be safely demolished. The bridge also includes Town-owned utility lines which must be capped once it is removed.
Meanwhile, the town is still working with Eagle Creek Hydro (the owner of Building 9, which houses a hydroelectric turbine) to find mutually acceptable solutions, since Building 9’s condition, ownership, and cost implications remain central to determining what gets demolished—and what gets stabilized or potentially reconstructed.
Once abatement is complete, the Town of Montague will seal off (or “cap”) utility lines on the bridge, in preparation for its removal. The bridge’s removal is expected to be carried out by FirstLight during the annual canal drawdown in the fourth week of September 2025.
For more information about the project, including project-related documents, click here.
Posted: to General Montague News on Tue, Sep 23, 2025
Updated: Wed, Oct 1, 2025
