A swampy area of the grounds is taped off at Wahconah Park.
Update at 3:53 p.m.: Police say the remains were collected by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and that they were in an advanced state of decomposition. No identification has been made.
A city employee who was cutting brush in the park made the discovery but that location is not part of the baseball field.
The detective bureau is investigating and police said there is no indication of any threat to the general public.
Anyone who can provide information is asked to call 413-448-9705. Information can also be provided anonymously via 413-448-9706, or by texting PITTIP and your message to TIP411 (847411).
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Police are investigating human remains found Tuesday on the grounds of Wahconah Park.
A swampy area between the parking lot and the park on Wahconah Street was taped off after a late morning call from the Parks Department reporting the find.
"We were called by the Parks Department," Police Cpt. Matthew Kirchner said. "We're investigating. We have a deceased party."
He said parks workers were doing routine maintenance when the body was found at approximately 11 a.m.
iBerkshires was on the scene at about 1:15 p.m. and police said no further information could be released at that time about the identity, age or gender of the remains. Police were waiting for the medical examiner to arrive.
Police would not confirm or deny a report about the condition of the remains.
"We are waiting for the medical examiner's office," Kirchner said. "There will be an investigation done."
The taped area around where the body was found is blocked off from the public but the park and the parking lot remain open. The area appears not far from open space and is next to a baseball backdrop, which is also taped off.
The patrol division, Crime Scene Services and the detective bureau were on the scene.
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Big Lots to Close Pittsfield Store
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two major chains are closing storefronts in the Berkshires in the coming year.
Big Lots announced on Thursday it would liquidate its assets after a purchase agreement with a competitor fell through.
"We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale," Bruce Thorn, Big Lots' president and CEO, said in the announcement. "While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process."
The closeout retailer moved into the former Price Rite Marketplace on Dalton Avenue in 2021. The grocery had been in what was originally the Big N for 14 years before closing eight months after a million-dollar remodel. Big Lots had previously been in the Allendale Shopping Center.
Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. It operated nearly 1,400 stores nationwide but began closing more than 300 by August with plans for another 250 by January. The Pittsfield location had not been amount the early closures.
Its website puts the current list of stores at 960 with 17 in Massachusetts. Most are in the eastern part of the state with the closest in Pittsfield and Springfield.
Advanced Auto Parts, with three locations in the Berkshires, is closing 500 stores and 200 independently owned locations by about June.
PEDA's former building at 81 Kellogg St. (next to 100 Woodlawn Ave) was also demolished. The 100 Woodlawn block is separate from the William Stanley Business Park.
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This is what angry community members said after two Pittsfield High School staff were put on administrative leave in the last week, one for federal drug charges and the other for an investigation by the Department of Children and Families.
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