Soule Mill Weave Shed

About this Property

#Redevelopment

We were invited to meet Adam Buck and Anne Wolfe in 2005 to tour the progress they had been making on the former rope works building. We gathered some history shortly after our meeting as well but do not have any sources to share.

#Current Events

The thirteen units for sale in the Ropeworks come up on real estate website from time to time and now sell for an average of $350,000 to $450,000.

#History

The building is over 90 years old, but it’s exact date of construction places it between 1911 and 1917. It was originally designed as an addition to the larger Soule Mill complex, and is the only remaining structure. New Bedford was one of the first cities to integrate all stages of textile production within these large mill complexes, which were often several stories high and many city blocks long. This 25,000 square foot single story building was designed as a weave and dye shed, and north-facing skylights along the full length of each of the six sawteeth brought in ample even-toned natural light, which was important to the process of dying and color-matching. As New Bedford was one of the last cities in America to switch from whale oil to electric lights, the skylights were an important part of the design. The sawtooth roof design runs in a slight diagonal to the square of the building to face true north, which provides an interesting architectural feature (seen best in the aerial photo).

At one point the building was used as a liquor storehouse. Local laws required that all windows and skylights be bricked or boarded up when used for this purpose. Most recently, the building has been home to John Ruggles’s rope business which has been in operation in various locations since it was founded in the late 1800s. The business was originally created to provide cotton rope and braids to the New England textile industry, and later evolved to provide fine ropes for marine, industrial, and recreational markets. Mr. Ruggles started manufacturing rope at the 123 Sawyer St. location in 1974, and continued operating his business in a portion of the building after the 2004 sale.

#In the News

Rope Works Reclamation

Father-son team converts building into artistic haven

by Aaron Nicodemus
Standard Times | February 7, 2005

Norman and Adam Buck are not your average developers. The father and son team are looking at the former Rope Works Building at 123 Sawyer St., New Bedford with an artist’s eye, intent on converting the largely vacant building into a working artists community.

They purchased the building in November 2004, and are diligently renovating the neglected mill. They plan to create 13 artist loft-style condominiums, each with an artist workspace.

Each person involved in the project has a strong background in art. Adam F. Buck is an art school graduate, a former dot-com employee and photographer. His girlfriend and partner, Anne Wolfe, is also an art school graduate, as well as a sculptor and welder. Norman R. Buck, who is retired, describes himself as an “artistic dabbler.” He is married to Irene Buck, executive director of Artworks! in downtown New Bedford.

They looked at dozens of mills in and around New Bedford until settling on this one, in which they saw great potential for the creation of art. For one, natural lighting is abundant. The building’s sawtooth roof, with 210 north-facing windows, was originally built to let in the maximum amount of light. Ninety years ago, abundant natural light was the best way to dye cloth evenly. The building itself was built 6.5 degrees off the square of the building’s foundation, to accommodate the light.

The building’s high ceilings, loading dock and other industrial features are perfect for use by artists as well. “A lot of the needs of artists have already been built into industrial buildings,” Ms. Wolfe added.

The ultimate concept for the building, which also served as a liquor warehouse and rope manufacturing facility, is to create a working artist community that will have control of the building even if the neighborhood changes. “Usually what happens in a situation like this is that artists move into a blighted neighborhood, it goes upscale, and eventually the artists are kicked out,” Adam says. “We’re designing a building for artists, by artists, to raise a community of artists who won’t be moved out of the neighborhood. We’ll create some type of permanent caveat so that it will always remain a place for artists to live and work.”

The former owner of the building, John E. Ruggles, still uses a small amount of space in the building for his rope winding business.

The immediate neighborhood as it currently exists could be described as blighted: diagonally across Sawyer Street is the former Fairhaven Mill, whose burnt-out shell stands as a testament to urban neglect. Right next door are a series of construction trailers housing the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency working with the EPA to clean up pollution in New Bedford Harbor. On the other two sides of their new property is vacant industrial land: the site of the former Pierce Mill, which will eventually become a park, and vacant land across the street owned by clothing manufacturer Forecaster of Boston.

Adam Buck and Ms. Wolfe have lived and worked in warehouses and mills before, and plan to move into the building when the condos are ready. Norman Buck will have office and artist space.