Plans for Dormitory Addition Detailed

By Jennifer ThomasPrint Story | Email Story
An artist's rendering of the new entrance to Berkshire Towers.
NORTH ADAMS – A project that will see an addition built onto the front of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' Berkshire Towers by 2009 will have little impact on the surrounding community, officials said this week. "We hope to do this as sensitively and as quickly as possible. We're trying very diligently to minimize the impact to anyone in this area," said Thomas Hill, an architect with Kuhn Riddle Architects of Amherst, at the project's design presentation on Tuesday. "In a construction project, you're never totally without noise, never totally without mess, but we're working to do this with very little disruption on Church Street," he said. The residence hall, which was built in 1971, houses 320 students but is only accessible by a steep ramp from the street and has no safe vehicle turnoff areas. At the design presentation, about 50 residence advisers, Berkshire Towers residents and college officials – including President Mary K. Grant, Dean of Students Charlotte Degen and Vice President of Administration and Finance James Stakenas – weighed in on the benefits of revamping the building's front entrance. Hill and partner Anita Licis-Ribak joined representatives from the Massachusetts State College Building Authority in detailing specifics of the addition and proposed renovations to the interior, while also providing a timeline for completion. "Two of the major issues with the current building are accessibility and limited public meeting space," said Hill. "We'll help alleviate those problems with an addition to the front of the building." Approximately 3,600 square feet will be added to the residence hall and the entrance to the building will be moved to the ground level. The two-story addition will feature large open windows on the upper level, which will house two meeting rooms and a large open social area. The ground floor will become the main entrance to the building and will be redesigned to accommodate a card-access security system. A security area, a mechanical room and a bathroom will be constructed on that floor. Hill and Licis-Ribak said the project, which is expected to cost approximately $4 million, will completely change the look of the exterior, while keeping in touch with the "language of the building." The steep ramp toward the door and the stacks of white rocks will be removed and the loading dock currently to the right of the entrance will be moved to the south side of the building. The addition will also allow for a vehicle turnoff area on Church Street and the crosswalk will follow a straight path across the street, replacing the diagonal crosswalk students use now. Hill and Licis-Ribak said they struggled with designing an entrance that would both complement the brick exterior of the towers and connect the residence hall to the rest of the MCLA community. "We wanted the towers to have a real connection to the rest of the campus," said Hill, who designed the addition so that the entrance is situated directly across the street from the college's ceremonial gates. The project also includes making renovations to several rooms already within the residence hall. A second-floor kitchen and lounge will be transformed into a "multipurpose room" that will include an exercise area and laundry facilities. Because of the firm's commitment to sustainability, the project will used recycled materials and green technologies, with the eventual goal of receiving the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. Construction is expected to begin in the spring semester, with the bulk of the work occurring over the summer. Hill said the project should take about eight months to complete and will put the front entrance to the building out of commission for a semester. For senior and Berkshire Towers assistant building manager Michelle Hansen, the renovations will not have a direct impact on her living situation but she commends the college for considering students' needs. "A lot of time students want to get together but there isn't a lot of space, especially in BT," she said. "I'm glad they're finally making changes to residence halls." The project is funded by revenue bonds attained by the Massachusetts State College Building Authority and repaid through student fees.
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North Adams Councilor Kayaking for Hoosic River Revival

Staff ReportsiBerkshires

Stops marked along the way to the Hudson river. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A city councilor is paddling his way up the Hoosic River to raise funds for the Hoosic River Revival.
 
Andrew Fitch took the waters on Tuesday for his third annual long-distance summer vacation adventure and fundraiser. Last year, he walked 75 miles over five days between North Canaan, Conn., and Stamford, Vt..
 
This year, Fitch is kayaking navigable portions of the river from the Cheshire Reservoir to the mouth of the Hoosic, where it flows into the Hudson River in Stillwater, N.Y., over the course of five days and 70 miles.
 
He will be assisted by his boyfriend, Laurence Wilson, and several Hoosic River Revival board members with carrying his kayak over the many dams, flood chutes, and other obstructions along the river. 
 
Following two years of fundraising treks across the state, he says he is no novice to the region's diverse landscapes, winding roads, and welcoming communities. 
 
"Embarking on another great Massachusetts adventure, I'm so excited to be mixing it up this year," Fitch said in a statement. "I'll be tapping into my love for the waterways in my own back yard and flowing along with the Hoosic."
 
His walk last year raised $6,200 for Roots Teen Center in North Adams; in 2022, he walked across the state from Williamstown to Provincetown, and raised more than $5,000 for the National Network of Abortion funds. 
 
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