LEWISTON — Construction continues at the former Camden Yarns Mill in Lewiston, as the Maine Museum of Innovative Learning and Labor, or MILL, will be moving into the building as its newest location. 

Lewiston officials and Executive Director Rachel Ferrante broke ground on the project in January. 

The project comes as the organization was awarded a $500,000 humanities grant award back in 2022 to fund the multimillion-dollar project. 

The Maine MILL will be moving into the fully rehabbed Camden Yarns Mill that will feature an exhibit gallery illustrating what labor looked like in Lewiston from the 1850s to 1990s, said Ferrante. It will also house a design lab and a rotating temporary gallery on the upstairs floor featuring special exhibits.  

There will also be a new additional building that will be attached to the mill. 

“We’re really telling the story of this community over time so that a mix of old and new [technologies] has always been a part of this area’s story regardless of what time period you’re talking about,” Ferrante said.

The goal of the museum is not only to highlight the vast history it comprises but also to show how “Lewiston has changed over the last century with the shifts in the labor industry,” said Ferrante. 

“We want this space to tell the story of labor and innovation and what our community and surrounding area looks like today,” said Ferrante. 

And with a new and bigger space, the staff at the Maine MILL Museum will be able to educate and show kids and families how drastically Lewiston has changed with the new features it’s offering. 

“With the classroom, we’ll be able to teach kids what went on back in the days while providing hands-on experience,” said Ferrante. “Families can show their kids on visits what Lewiston looked like to them when they were kids. This will be a generational project and a cultural hub when it’s done.” 

The new Maine MILL building is expected to open next year, Ferrante said.