New development plan for Parchment paper plant

PARCHMENT, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Leaders in Parchment are taking another swing at plans to develop an old paper mill site.

The land has been in limbo since 2001 when Crown Vantage Paper Company went bankrupt.

Monday night city commissioners will vote on a new plan to clean up the site and start building.

It involves about 80 acres along the Kalamazoo River. Originally developers talked about building a golf course, but that's out of the new plan. Instead, this one includes about 350 houses and condos, a huge shopping center and a park.

Parchment's City Manager says this plan is a long time coming.

"The citizens of Parchment have been listening to and wondering what kind of progress has been made on this property since 2001. That's a long time. So everybody's excited and anticipating that this is finally going to get moving forward," said Dennis Durham.

The city manager says he's confident commissioners will approve the plan Monday night.

If it happens, crews will start knocking down buildings at the site at the end of next year.

Construction of the new development would begin in 2011.