SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) — Efforts are underway to revitalize a former Spartanburg County mill and historic iron bridge.

“It was a very important part of this community,” said John Montgomery, a developer working on the Startex Mill. “The whole community was built around this mill.”

Montgomery said Startex was once a booming community, but in the late 1990s, the Startex Mill closed.

“This little town was kind of forgotten, and so it’s really important to me to see new life breathed into this community,” said Montgomery.

Now, Montgomery is restoring this old mill.

“My plan is to take these old buildings and do a historic renovation to convert them into apartments, into housing for people in the community, as well as taking some of the old store buildings up front for office, retail, maybe a restaurant or coffee shop,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery said the original mill was built in 1895 by his great-great-grandfather. Today, the bleachery, company store, office buildings, and post office still stand.

“A lot of people who live here used to work at the mill, have grown up here, and have seen this place sitting idle for so many years, so already we have seen a lot of public support for this project,” said Montgomery.

Down the road, members of the Startex-Tucapau Preservation Foundation are fixing up an old iron bridge, which was once used by people in the mill community.

“When we first started the bridge project, it was completely covered in vines, heavy, heavy, heavy overgrowth,” said Richie Solesbee, a member of the foundation.

Soon, the group hopes the bridge can be used again.

“Our goal is to keep it as a pedestrian bridge, clean it up, get it back very structurally sound,” said Solesbee.

Both groups believe their revitalization efforts will create a destination for people in the area.

“With the work that I’m going to be doing on this property and down along the river and around the bridge, I think it all goes hand in hand to create a really nice public space for people to come and enjoy the river, enjoy access to the water,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery said he hopes to have construction start later this year and said the entire project to redevelop the mill could take three to five years to complete.