Nelson Knitting factory, once imagined as a Rockford museum site, now appears destined for demolition

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The former Nelson Knitting factory, a nearly century-old building where classic red-heel socks were once made, was previously envisioned as a banquet hall and museum honoring Rockford’s industrial heritage.

This week cleanup work began on the site that could set the stage for the building’s demolition.

The former sock-knitting mill at 909 S. Main St. was acquired by the Winnebago Trustee Program on Oct. 19 after it sat in disrepair and tax-delinquent status.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is now removing fallen asbestos and other hazardous materials, including polychlorinated biphenyls, lead acid batteries, miscellaneous chemicals, mercury switches, and fluorescent light tubes.

Once the cleanup is complete the trustee, which works to get publicly owned properties back on the tax rolls, can pursue demolition or potential redevelopment. The latter is unlikely after the building was gutted of much of its salvageable materials.

“It’s completely demoed on the inside,” said Samantha Hochmann, executive director of Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum, which once sought to purchase the site. “I don’t see it ever becoming anything.

“I don’t think there’s anybody interested in purchasing the property, but you never know.”

How museum plans unraveled

The EPA’s work comes a little more than a dozen years after Tinker won a $400,000 state grant to purchase the property, fund environmental cleanup and start renovation to transform it into a museum with a restaurant and banquet hall.

Those plans unraveled when the owner, John Cook, refused the Rockford Park District’s purchase offer that was less than what he paid for the property. He then took the district to court, saying he had a verbal deal with previous leadership for the district to buy the property from him.

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The district ultimately paid $225,000 to settle the lawsuit while requiring Cook to keep ownership of the property.

The state grant was also returned and plans for the museum were scrapped when the district decided it was too costly an endeavor.

“It’s been vacant ever since that lawsuit; nobody’s done anything with it,” Hochmann said.

There was at least one other proposal for the property since that time. In 2013, Comprehensive Community Solutions had plans to use it as part of a green development and training center. The plan also called for a restaurant, coffee shop and various microenterprises, but it never came to fruition.

Cook ultimately walked away from the property, but not before materials were salvaged and asbestos was left laying on the floor, according to the city of Rockford, which levied fines after taking code enforcement action.

The building was boarded up and condemned in July 2020.

Once the ownership of the property was taken three months ago, the focus turned to cleanup of the potentially dangerous site, according to Rob Wilhelmi, the city’s brownfields redevelopment specialist.

“If the building were to collapse or catch on fire or something, you have residents nearby,” Wilhelmi said. “That’s why we worked with the county trustee to acquire the property so the U.S. EPA would come in and do the asbestos abatement.”

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The EPA is tackling what’s called a time-critical removal action.

“It’s a program that deals with the worst of the worst for sites that don’t have a financially responsible party tied to them,” Wilhelmi said.

It’s an unfortunate state for the once beautiful building, Hochmann said.

“The masonry on it. It’s got that saw-tooth roof,” she said. “It was a beautiful building once upon a time.”

What’s next for the site?

Wilhelmi said it’s unlikely the site will be redeveloped.

“Someone might come with a great plan that we would be supportive of. Right now, I don’t see that happening,” he said. “It’s most likely going to be demolished, but that’s not the end all, be all for the property.”

People have continued to trespass on the property despite the city’s work to board it up and prevent access. That’s why removing hazardous materials was a priority for the EPA. People who enter the building can be exposed to hazardous material and risk transporting asbestos fibers off site on their clothes and shoes.

“Buildings like this are barricaded for a reason: hazardous carcinogens, asbestos is a very dangerous, hazardous material to be exposed to,” said Colin Hendrickson, federal on-scene coordinator of the EPA. “Sites like this, we’ve noticed quite a bit of evidence of trespassers. We’re trying to make sure we clean this out so people are not exposed to such dangerous, hazardous materials.”

Cleanup can last up to six weeks, Hendrickson said.

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Nelson Knitting moved into the building around 1926, according to Laura Furman, curator at Midway Village Museum. It was previously located on Wyman Street.

Before Nelson Knitting was on the site, the land served as the driveway to the stately home of Robert Tinker.

“It was a tree-lined long drive in. The rose garden extended into there. There was a circular drive that came up to the front door for the carriages to come around,” Hochmann said. “(It was) a very landscape, picturesque, beautiful setting.

“In an ideal world, we would love to have that part of Tinker’s history reinstated, but I just don’t know that that’s ever going to be possible.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas