Did an old mill that became home to more than 200 artists spur growth in a part of Huntsville across Memorial Parkway from the city’s downtown core?

That was the opinion of the man who purchased the mill built in the early 1900s, Jim Hudson, the founder of biotech company Research Genetics.

He saw the economic potential Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment center would bring to the location on Seminole Street not far from Governors Drive.

“Like Jim Hudson said, it was the spark that started all of this,” Lowe Mill media coordinator Eric Schultz said. “It’s still the spark that keeps people interested. This neighborhood would look very different if this was a warehouse, or like many of the mills, if this wasn’t here anymore. What would it be, a parking lot? I think it says a lot to the vision of the Hudsons. They saw the economic impact a place like this could have.”

Dennis Madsen, Huntsville manager of Long-Range Planning and Urban Development, singled out the Lowe Mill neighborhood as a hot bed of home renovations and construction.