The Independent, January 17th, 2006

Arts center attracts backer

By Matthew Sheehey

CHATHAM - Thanks in large part to community support for the project, a national not-for-profit organization agreed last week to the lead in

transforming the old Columbia Boxboard mill on Rout 295 into an arts center.

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The Women's Times, November 2005

Editior's Notes: Dear Reader

Eugenie Sills

Hardly a week goes by when a newspaper in our region doesn't carry a story about the important links among art, culture, tourism and economic development. No wonder: cultural tourism is big business accross our area, and the number of jobs in what's known as the creative industry...

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The Independent, October 28th, 2005 (link to article on Independent's site)

Arts Center Session Draws a Big Crowd

By Matthew Sheehey

CHATHAM-At similar presentations in Buffalo and Chicago, 40 people showed up to hear how Artspace could transform vacant commercial buildings into places for artists of every stripe

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Times Union, October 26th, 2005

Dreams of Art Fueled by Water and Light

Solaqua, a multipurpose center in Chatham, would rely on solar and hydropower

By KEVIN HARLIN, Business writer

CHATHAM -- With every uptick in energy prices, Jody Rael said his proposal to convert a vacant Chatham paper mill into a hive of shopsshops, restaurants and studios for artists looks more attractive. For one thing, artist-centric projects strengthen communities and generate economic development, he said.

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Register Star October 23, 2005

Solaqua airing may be decisive

Plans for old Boxboard plants revealed Wednesday at CHS

By Taitia Shelow

Next week, community leaders and the genreal public will get a chnce to hear more about plans for the former Columbia Boxboard propoerty on Route 295, and offer their ideas on a proposal to turn it into a new art and technology center.

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Chatham Courier, September 22, 2005

Businessman’s fantasy may change vacant buildings into solar/water powered multi-purpose venue Boxboard property owner envisions sustainable energy technology center.

By Taitia Shelow

CHATHAM — When Jody Rael hops in his electric golf cart and drives among the hulking shells of the old Columbia Boxboard buildings on Route 295, he doesn’t see dust, dirt, leaking roofs and rusted equipment. Instead, he sees a pub and restaurant in a three-story building previously used for electric work and storage. In back of the building, a flat concrete slab with a fence around it.

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The Independent, September 9th, 2005

CHATHAM-When Columbia Box Board closed down here a decade ago, the county lost a major employer and another industrial landmark was left with broken windows and trees swaying on the rooftops.

Matthew Sheehey

With the elements taking their toll, and the paper business gone forever, the future of the sprawling mill was most certainly in doubt.
But Jody Rael of Old Chatham, president of nearby Kling Magnetics, saw something there and purchased the complex-junk and all-in 1997.

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