Six buildings that are part of the former Wilson Brothers Shirt Co. factory — located along Sample Street, a block west of Chapin Street — are being deconstructed. SBT Photo/GREG SWIERCZ
There’s a strong market for those materials, too.
For example, the Wilson complex — like many other factories its age — is a repository of old-growth timbers that have become extremely rare. The hard maple flooring and heart-pine support beams inside the buildings were cut from trees that had been growing for hundreds of years. Old factories are some of the last places where such wood can be found.