New City Church at the Mill has begun the next stage of renovations on the former Cotton Seed Oil Mill in downtown Milledgeville.
Pastor Patrick McConnell is leading the renovations of New City Church in Milledgeville and announced its slow and steady progression of historic renovation moving into the bays of the church.
“The church was originally called New City Church in Milledgeville, but we renamed it to New City Church at the Mill as a callback to the building’s history. This renovation will be the third historic renovation we have done through New City Church,” said McConnell.
New City Church in Milledgeville was established in 2010 and originally met in Buffingtons.
The church has moved through several buildings, including most recently the gym of John Milledge Academy, before settling in the Mill.
“The basis behind New City is looking at what a New Testament church looks like and what we found is these churches engage more with the community. The church is an extension to the community,” said McConnell. “That is why New City is so involved in the community from events to architecture.”
Previously, New City Church restored a men’s clothing store on Cherry Street in Macon and a power station on Riverside in Macon.
McConnell has been a part of the planning team for New City since 2008 and was involved in both restorations. While time-consuming and monetarily heavy, McConnell shared that finishing the restorations is always an indescribable feeling and leaves lasting impacts on the community.
“It’s a long and tough process that spans years at a time,” said McConnell.
“We try to preserve and restore as much as we can, and the church does all the work itself with the help of volunteers. We are thankful to everyone who gets involved and for anyone who invests themselves in these strenuous but grand accomplishments.”
According to McConnell, he discovered the Mill while searching for a building near downtown Milledgeville to reside in. At the time, it had been abandoned for at least a decade and McConnell feared it was beyond repair and restoration.
“Despite those fears, I felt that the Lord was telling me it was beyond us but not him. So, I looked at the Mill again and I felt the lord tell me it was time to restore another building,” said McConnell.
Restoration for the Mill began in 2018 and has been ongoing. Throughout the process, the church has taken careful consideration of what to change and preserve. Some preservation has included the external appearance of the building, creating a sign that references the original name of the Mill, working with the firewalls inside the bays and trying to restore the roofing.
“This building has its expansive history from being a Mill to being the home to many other businesses over the years. As we renovate the Mill, we are taking small steps to see what we can preserve, references we can make to its history, and what may need to be changed for modern safety and use,” said McConnell.
McConnell led The Baldwin Bulletin on a walk-through of the building that showed off the many open-air bays, fireproof walls, and rooms impacted by disaster from falling roofs and the impact of graffiti. During this walk-through, he explained that the Mill originally was built out of a wood frame and burned down in the early 1900s.
After this fire, the Mill was restored with firewalls and brick. This was finished around 1920.
“Each bay is separated by firewalls due to this renovation and from what we know of the history, the building itself is at least 100 years old. After the Mill, it was used for various purposes, including a night club known as Club Squeeze, before being abandoned and sitting vacant,” said McConnell. “By the time we began renovations of the Mill, we believe it sat and began to deteriorate for at least a decade and based on our first phase of renovation, Club Squeeze was likely the last business to occupy this space before abandonment.”
During the first phase of renovation, New City took the remains of Club Squeeze and converted the front half of the building into a communal space and offices for use by the community, church staff and attendees.
Nothing remains of the nightclub but a faded sign on one wall that can be faintly read as ‘Club Squeeze.’ According to McConnell, this faded sign was left on the wall as a lesson.
“When we began renovation the urban nightclub’s possessions were still in the building from the poles to the private rooms. As part of our philosophy, we don’t see the building as the church itself but rather the people as the church, per the New Testament.
Therefore, the building’s history is a reminder of how everyone comes from many different walks of life. We all come with different baggage and scars that cannot be erased but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have new beginnings,” said McConnell.
The goals for the overall renovation process include giving the building a “new beginning” while keeping the structural integrity and overall appearance by showing the exposed brick. New City also plans to leave much of the ironwork around the building to show its history. Plans have yet to be made for the inside of the building, but McConnell reassures that they hope to also preserve the inside while making it a welcoming space.
“We are currently in the repair and cleaning phase as we move into outer bays,” said McConnell.
“In addition, one of the backside bays will be eventually used by the Life Enrichment Center (LEC) as part of their Urban Arts Village. We are very proud to be working with them through this restoration process.”
The LEC has yet to begin any renovations on the bay but has begun preparations for the Urban Arts Village behind the church, including laying a rock foundation and clearing brush.
“We do not have a set date for when renovations will be done. It is an ongoing process, and anyone is welcome to get involved,” said McConnell. Worship Services at New City Church begin at 10 a.m. with coffee, donuts, and fellowship and worship begin at 10:30 a.m. McConnell encourages anyone who would like to get involved with the church to attend a service and meet the staff face-to-face.