WINDHAM – The former Heritage Metalcraft building on Route 202 in Windham, recently bought and slated for redevelopment, is instead back on the market.

Jay Hackett, owner of Windham Rental Center and a resident of nearby Pope Road, bought the unsightly, 5,500-square-foot building in October with designs to renovate the former foundry for his girlfriend, Helene Rush, who operates the Knit One Crochet Two wholesaling enterprise in North Windham. The building would have been used as a distribution center for the wholesale yarn company.

With the economy sputtering however, Hackett is trying to unload the two-acre commercially zoned property, located across from the Windham Skate Park, for $169,000.

The building is listed with Tom Noonan of Remax/Allied Real Estate in North Windham. Noonan said the property has been given a “clean letter” from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, meaning it has “passed muster” after removal of contaminants, he said.

The property, which had been in a farm-residential zone, was rezoned Commercial-3 last August by the Windham Town Council, which approved a contract zone. The contract, which some critics argued was spot zoning at the time, allows for a broad spectrum of uses, such as light industry, warehousing and retail. The uses would still be allowed under a new owner since the contract follows the property, not the owner, according to the town’s economic development director, Tom Bartell.

The former foundry, which has long been one of Windham’s prominent eyesores as it is covered with graffiti and peeling blue paint, closed down in the early 2000s. It once manufactured ornamental signs, eagles and other metallic objects. Noonan put the building on the market several weeks ago and on Monday posted a for-sale sign on the grounds.

“Yes, we’ve had several parties showing interest and several showings already,” Noonan said Wednesday, adding that the prospective buyers represent a number of different commercial interests.

Last summer, the Town Council expressed enthusiasm that Hackett was interested in rehabilitating and cleaning up the property. According to Bartell, the town received $17,887 from a federal EPA Brownfield grant to conduct a site pollution assessment. John Cressey, an engineer with Summit Environmental, the Portland-based firm hired to conduct the site evaluation, identified residual slag “scattered about” the property from the kiln processing of metals such as zinc and lead.

“Everything was cleaned up to DEP’s satisfaction,” Cresssey said.

Hackett said he “did a lot of work that nobody can see” inside the building cleaning up the pollutants. All the contaminants except for a few barrels have been removed so far, Hackett said.

“We got everything but maybe 5 percent,” he said.

Hackett also said back taxes were paid at the closing in October, “so not only did we clean up the trash, the property is back on the tax rolls, which is another benefit to the town,” Hackett said.

Hackett also said that if the building doesn’t sell, he and his girlfriend may eventually develop it.

“It’s not totally off our radar,” he said. “The economy isn’t great, so we’ll see if it sells. But we are looking for her business to turn around here, so we’ll see what happens.”

The former Heritage Metalcraft building on Route 202 in Windham, recently bought and slated for redevelopment, is instead back on the market. (Staff photo by John Balentine)