Dear Billionaire Collector Friends,

There is, in Athens, Georgia (50 miles east of Atlanta, a university
center, a famous music town & tourist destination) an abandoned textile
mill for sale in which once was made the rubberized cloth for player
pianos.  I know, because I found the 1920s machinery for it when I
cleaned it out 10 years ago.

The mill is at the end of Milledge Avenue (a main thoroughfare), in
a lovely rural setting although it's only three minutes from town
(due to the intervening 762 acres of land being owned by the University
of Georgia's [UGA] College of Agriculture.)

It has a not-used, meandering, 3-mile rail line going to it from right
through the middle of UGA, and from the Classic Center (the Civic
Center where the TCM Film Festival started) through some very, lovely
scenery; and is only 30 seconds from the huge State Botanical Garden
of Georgia.  (This is an extremely popular tourist attraction with
hundreds of acres, an astonishing Visitors' Center full of tropical
plants, a stunning chapel for weddings, and etc..)

The mill is over 100 years old, and is on 9 (?) partially wooded acres.
The corner lot, in front of the mill where Milledge and Whitehall Roads
connect, has a very popular pizza parlor on it.  (Whitehall is the
Richardsonian mansion of Jim White, who built the mill, which is still
across the street.)  It is rural, and peaceful most of the day, but
many thousands of commuters from affluent, adjacent Oconee County pass
it twice daily on their way to and from jobs at UGA and Athens in
general.

It seems to me that this would be a _great_ place for a tourist
attraction!  The mill is 90,000 square feet, spread out over several
buildings, and could house automatic musical instruments, antique cars,
trains and maybe a section devoted to the 1870-1940 era, in general,
with separate rooms furnished in each decade's styles!

A trolley car (maybe electric, but at least motorized) could take
visitors on the unused rail line from the Classic Center, downtown,
and from the University.  There is ample room behind the mill buildings
for picnicking, and a carousel even, on a flat spot surrounded by
trees.

Piano playing concerts?  I have profs at the Music School already
interested in this.  Outdoor concerts and movies?  Some of the land
forms a natural amphitheater.

I will gladly "chip in" with my 1938 International Railway Express
Agency van, which could be painted with a sign on it and parked out
front.  I have a friend, a famous 1920s style bandleader, concerned
about an eventual, permanent location for his massive, lifelong
collection of sheet music and dance band charts.

Anyone interested?

Gordon Lee Stelter
Athens, Georgia

 [ Some articles about Athens and the textile mills are at
 [ http://accheritage.blogspot.com/2010/04/23-april-1897-first-factory-in-georgia.html 
 [ and https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/textile-industry 
 [ and https://www.visitathensga.com/about-athens/heritage/history-of-athens/ 
 [ -- Robbie