City takes action against Bemis Mill contractor

JACKSON, Tenn. — The city of Jackson says negligence has caused them to take action against a company hired to safely tear down a century-old mill. The site of the broken bricks, metal and wood is frustrating to residents who have lived there for generations.

“Bemis always demonstrated an interest in their employees, and it was a wonderful place to grow up,” Joe Austin said.

Austin remembers growing up in the town of Bemis like it was yesterday. He was born there and eventually grew up to go into the Navy. He later returned to the mill and worked his way up to become third shift superintendent.

“It was not famous for high salaries, but it fed and clothed a lot of people,” Austin said.

Austin retired in 1984 when the mill closed.

“Textile industry is bad about chasing the cheapest source, and that’s why we lost,” Joel Jackson said. Jackson said the industry was shipped overseas, and jobs were lost.

Jackson founded the Bemis Historical Society. He grew up in Bemis and keeps track of the town’s history, what it has become and what it will be.

Jackson has also watched this icon come down piece by piece.

“It stood for Bemis, and now we’re having to substitute and hoping we can keep the water tank as representing Bemis. It has really taken away our main memory,” Jackson said.

The process of tearing down the warehouse goes back two and a half years.

“This particular building has a lot of infrastructure situations,” Christian Morton said in 2014 when WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News toured the building. Morton showed us why it would be so hard to save even after the city said they tried to save it.

The process is called a deconstruction because bricks and lumber are saved to sell to other businesses across the country.

“It had been your livelihood for so many years, but it was evident that you couldn’t justify keeping it because it was an expensive building to maintain,” Austin said.

Once the deconstruction of the mill is complete, plans are in the works for a park to go in its place. The city said it’s been such a nightmare to get the project complete that they’ve had to take legal actions against the deconstruction company.

“All the good bricks are gone. All the good wood is gone. All the good metal is gone that they can make money out of. Now they’re going to have to clean up the mess and start over again,” Jackson said.

The city says they’ve filed the lawsuit against D.G. Deconstruction LLC. The suit claims blight and public nuisance. It makes the process even more frustrating for those who call Bemis Home.

D.G. Deconstruction LLC has not commented on the lawsuit filed by the city.

If you would like to learn more about the history of Bemis, the museum is open every Thursday from noon until 4 p.m. and every third Saturday from noon until 4 p.m.