AVTECH Unveils 'New' Cutler Mill High Tech Firm Spend Two Years Renovating Historic Mill
Written By Cindy VanSchalkwyk, Providence Business News - Vol. 144 Issue 38
WARREN — 16 Cutler Street has seen a great deal of change from its first beginnings as Cutler Manufacturing in 1868. It took another step Wednesday when officials from AVTECH, a high tech computer firm that decided to move to Warren two years ago, held a ribbon cutting and open house at the old mill.
Dozens of people from the community attended the event, including local politicians and members of the East Bay Chamber of Commerce. Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri showed up as well.
“It’s amazing what they do with these old buildings. It’s great that they refurbish them instead of knocking them down,” Mark DeVine, on the board of the chamber of commerce, said after a walk through the building.
Michael Sigourney, president, CEO, and owner of AVTECH, purchased the old mill from David Wescott in December of 2008 and has since spent more than $1 million refurbishing the old space.
Visitors toured the second and third floors of the building, where most of Avtech is housed, taking in the changes and updates. Much of the work was done with a nod to the building’s history: Many of the original brick walls were left untouched, the cherry floors were refinished, and ceilings were scraped and painted rather than concealed under new drop ceilings. Interesting architectural elements on the floors included multi-paned glass windows rescued from other old buildings and used as room dividers, and wainscoting created from wooden doors that were once part of a post office in Pennsylvania. Several stained glass windows were incorporated into the new look. The combination created a welcoming space with lots of natural light. Many of the added architectural elements were pieces Mr. Sigourney had collected over many years. The result drew rave reviews from those touring the building.
“I had a picture in my head, and this is so much better. It’s really much more friendly feeling,” Rhode Island First Lady Suzanne Carcieri said. Gov Carcieri added that the new use of an old building is a positive for the area.
“I think it’s just such a great, great story. The state was built on the back of mills like this,” Gov. Carcieri said.
16 Cutler Street had been improved in previous years by Mr. Wescott, and was home to a fencing academy and a fitness center, which now operate elsewhere in town.
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Mr. Sigourney talked about how AVTECH has evolved over the years into a company that outgrew leased space in Newport several times over a couple of decades.
“AVTECH is 22 years old. At one point I was the only employee and made a lot of macaroni and cheese,” he said.
AVTECH designs and manufactures environmental monitoring solutions for computer rooms. Operations in the Warren location include finance and marketing, software development and hardware engineering, as well as sales and product fulfillment. Manufacturing is done in other locations in New England, as well as China and India. Avtech occupies the larger part of the three-story building, and the remainder is leased to other businesses.
Finishing touches are still being put in, but most renovations are complete. Last year, on July 1, AVTECH moved operations from their leased building in Newport to the new location.
During the open house, Jonathan Cottrell, of Cottrell Brothers, who had a hand in some of the work done in the building, said the finished product was “a transformation.”
“Michael called me in on some special assignments, but I just love what he’s done. And I’m so jealous because I want my own mill,” he said with a laugh.
WARREN — 16 Cutler Street has seen a great deal of change from its first beginnings as Cutler Manufacturing in 1868. It took another step Wednesday when officials from AVTECH, a high tech computer firm that decided to move to Warren two years ago, held a ribbon cutting and open house at the old mill.
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AVTECH Software, Inc.